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Brought to Bay 


A NOVEL 


COL. RICHARD HENRY SAVAGE 

Author of “My Official Wife,” “The Shield of 
His Honor,” etc. 



THE HOME PUBLISHING CO. 


library of CoRgrot* 
OfHca of the 

MAY 5 - 1900 

Beglrior 9f Copyright* 



, G? 

I / &V 

• V ' 


V 


61521 . 

Copyright 1900 
By A. C. Guntek 
All rights reserved 


SECOND COPY, 

9^73 


C^U. /(?! (fo-o 


BROUGHT TO BAY 


BOOK I 

Kith and Kin 


CHAPTER PAGE 

I On the “ Dreadnaught,” at Stamboul . 5 

II. The New Mexico Cattle Company’s Ex- 
traordinary Meeting — “Texas Dave” 25 

III. At the Hotel Meurice — A Brotherly Com- 

pact . . . . . .42 

IV. A Little Row at Maxime’s — Cross-purposes 60 

V. In the Painted Mountains — “ This Shall Be 

Mine!” ...... 79 


BOOK II 

H is Brother’s Keeper 


CHAPTER PAGE 

VI. The Copper King — Miss Judith Larue — In 

the Net 102 

VII. Julian’s New Ally — Ambroise Larue’s In- 
structions — The Rallying at New York 
— Sir Aubrey’s Rapid Decline — Laure’s 

Compact i22 

VIII. For High Stakes — At the Bear Valley Mine 
— “Texas Dave” as a Monopolist — 
Bremond’s Return — “You Are to Wait 
‘ for Dispatches ” .... 139 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER PAGE 

IX. The Secret Messenger — “ He Is Sir Julian, 

Now ” — The Trap Set — Alone in the 
Forest — Missing — The Riderless Horse 
— “ This Is Indians’ Work ” . . 156 

X. The Insurance Company’s Protest — Ordered 
to Sheffield — “ The Cienfuegos Copper 
Company, Limited ” — A Little Run 
Over to Paris . .. . . . 173 

BOOK III 

An Unwilling Judge 


CHAPTER PAGE 

XI. A Mystery of the Mountains — The Telltale 

Bullets — “ Texas Dave’s ” Lone Trail 192 

XII. Sir Raoul Hawtrey’s Wedding — “ Texas 
Dave’s” New Dignity — A Representa- 
tive of Foreign Capital . .212 

XIII. Laure Duvernay’s Awakening — The “Morn- 

ing Post’s ” Nuptial Announcement — 

“ I Will Have My Revenge! ” . . 237 

XIV. Sir Raoul’s Mysterious Visitor — The Hon- 

eymoon at San F^licien — “ Monsieur 
Le Marquis! ” . . . . 256 

XV. Unbidden Guests — “Important Business” 

— The Mute Witnesses — The Curse of 
Cain — “ One Moment to Say Farewell ” 

— Brought to Bay! . . . s 273 


BROUGHT TO BAY 

BOOK I. 

?. -* ') 

Kith and Kin. 

chapter i. 

ON T-HE' “ DREADNAUGHT,” AT STAMBOUL. 
s 

Julian Hawtrey lazily lifted his head as the sound of 
the evening gun rolled softly over the glassy waves 
of the Bosporus. With a listless eye, he had marked 
the red flash leap forth from the turret of H. B. M. 
flagship “ Inflexible,” and then, the graceful smoke- 
rings slowly float away toward Prinkipo — those Isl- 
ands of the Blessed for the : Giaour Don Juans a la 
mode. 

” The setting sun gilded Pera and Galata; the old 
Norman tower on the hill gleamed out golden, while, 
far away to the south, across the silvery streak of the 
Golden Horn, the 'slender minarets were penciled in 
lines of living light. The ensigns of a hundred ships, 
drooping low, showed the colors of a dozen nations, 
and scores of boats airily skimmed the blue waters. 

From the minarets of Istambol, the musical call of 
the muezzin sounded softly, for it was the hour of 
prayer, and the graceful “ Dreadnaught ” swung idly 
at her moorings. Soft, dark shadows began to wrap 
the graceful cypress groves of Seraglio Point, as the 
daylight faded slowlv away. A thin, gray mist drifted 
up from the Sea of Marmora, and, at last, hid the 
gloomy cemeteries of Scutari from the young English- 
iman’s gaze. 

* _ Lying. at-his easer-+str etched cuut on a long Japanese 


6 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


bamboo chair — Hawtrey had forgotten the unfinished 
“ Bass,” and his cheroot was extinguished, for grim 
cares haunted the proper-looking young Briton. 

He laughed cynically as he surveyed the huge, un- 
gainly bulk of the “ Inflexible,” anchored far out, her 
massy steel bulk twisted into shapes of devilish ingen- 
uity for offense and defense. 

“ We are all here for the same thing, money! It’s 
the only thing in life, after all! ” he murmured. 

For, England was now visibly dunning the “ Sick 
Man,” and, Hawtrey was on a quest whose ultimate 
object was pounds, shillings, and pence. 

“ Boat ahoy! ” sang out the quartermaster on 
watch, as a smart steam launch, with the official flag 
of the British embassy, swept alongside. 

“ Anything new, Avonmore? ” demanded Hawtrey, 
as he strolled to the gangway, regardless of the sail- 
ing-master’s wrath at the litter of discarded mag- 
azines, worn-out Times, and torn letters scattered 
around the haunt of the cynical landsman, who was 
the most detested guest on the trim “ Dreadnaught.” 

“ London mail, some telegrams for you — and — look 
alive now for dinner, old chap, as we are all bidden 
to the ball at the French Embassy, to-night! ” 

Avonmore, jolly yachtsman, robust and rosy — 
“ bearded as the pard ” — dove d(5wn into his cabin, 
with the easy swing of the “ best fellow in England,” 
a life-enjoying peer, with forty thousand a year — the 
owner of the graceful four-hundred-ton steamer, 
whose stanch engines had throbbed on every sea, 
bearing his private signal from Tangier to Tokio, and 
from Cape Cod to Cape Town. Avonmore, of the R. 
V. C. was also a mighty shekarry! 

Captain Julian Hawtrev silently took his bundle of 
communications, and, with a last sweeping look at 
the handsomest panorama on earth, sought his guest- 
cabin in a grim disgust. 

Flashing the electric lights, he proceeded to assort 
his host’s harvest, gleaned at the Legation. 

“ Same old dun for funds, same raven croakings,” 
cried the ex-Captain of the Ninth Lancers, hurling a 
blue cloth envelope across the room, for he had 
caught the ominous backing, “ Walter Addiscotnbe.” 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


7 


“ Those Temple Bar cormorants must think that I 
own Aladdin’s lamp,” he growled. 

There were other London letters; two or three be- 
speaking half-forgotten amourettes, which also fell 
unheeded on the floor. The folded strips of a couple 
of telegrams were his first prey, and Hawtrey, with 
difficulty, picked out the meaning of the dispatches 
handled by the Moslem telegraphers, perfect only in 
“ English as she is spoke ” in the domains of the 
Sultan. 

The first was dated from Damascus, and addressed 
“On Board Yacht ‘ Dreadnaught,’ Smyrna”; the 
second was dated at Constantinople, and its brief 
words roused the discontented man. “ He smacks of 
the business man, this unknown brother of mine,” 
sneered Julian, as he folded the telegrams and slipped 
them into his cardcase — “ Here to meet you — arrange 
for conference at French Embassy.” 

“ I suppose I can find something out, to-night,” 
mused Hawtrey, verifying the signature, “ Raoul 
Hawtrey,” and the date, September io, 1895. 

“ He must have followed me on from Damascus,” 
concluded Julian. “ I wonder if he is as hard up as I 
am? ” 

Then, with reluctance, the society cynic tore open 
his solicitor’s letter, and refreshed his memories as to 
the cloud of money troubles closing darkly around 
him. The steward had already tapped twice for dinner 
before the attentive Soames had finished his master’s 
evening toilet. 

There was cheer and women’s laughter in the cabin, 
when Julian Hawtrey, putting up his monocle, won- 
dered at the strange fishes swept into Lord Avon- 
more’s net. 

“ Same old story,” he soliloquized, as he silently 
bent over his soup, after the perfunctory introduc- 
tions. “ ‘Gib.’, Algiers, Malta, Alexandria, Athens, 
Smyrna — every pretty woman, on waiting orders, 
finds her way aboard this Cytherean shallop ! ” 

Hawtrey forgot the attractions of Roberts of the 
Artillery ; Aberford, the calflike Scottish pig iron king ; 
Mortimer Thompson, the London beau, and Le 
Comte de Beau Rivage — who were playing “ chorus ” 


8 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


to the handsome host, a Timon before his fall. 

And so, Hawtrey wondered not, when Avonmore 
demurely announced that Grafin Julie Koezi, and the 
young Princess Sovanoff had joined the yachting 
party for a hunting-trip along the Illyrian coast — the 
ladies to be ultimately debarked at Venice, having 
winter designs upon gay Vienna. 

“ I have heard that the Hapsburgs are tottering to 
their fall; now, I know it,” growled Hawtrey, acutely 
marking down these bright-plumaged hawks who had 
fluttered on board, after their three days’ stay “ under 
the walls of Paradise.” 

“Welcome the coming, speed the parting guest! ” 
laughed Hawtrey, as he accepted Julie Koczi’s chal- 
lenge to another glass of the insidious Pommery a 
half an hour later. “ I can give your cousin, Count 
Starinski, my cabin, as I must drop off here and take 
the ‘ Grand Oriental ’ for London/’ 

“ What’s up, Hawtrey? ” cried the debonair host, 
taking his eyes, for a moment, off the audacious dis r 
plays of Princess Sovanoff’ s corsage. 

“ I may have to go over to America,” gloomily 
answered Hawtrey. 

“ Bears and all that sort of things? ” queried Ayqn- 
more. » 

“ No! ” gruffly replied Hawtrey. “ Bulls and all 
that kind of thing! A lot of us have a million dollars 
wandering around. on four feet, somewhere out dn 
New Mexico, and all 1 know of it, is the recurrent 
assessments and that ‘ Coyote ’ is the name of the 
‘ vanishing point ’ of these funds — somewhere in Rio 
Arriba County, New Mexico.” 

Julian Hawtrey unbent at Avonmore’s kindly 
“ Sorry to lose you, old chap! ” and he even furtively 
pressed the hand of the pretty Muscovite, who mod- 
estly whispered, “Take me with you! ” But he left 
the fun at its highest, when he withdrew, saying, 
“Meet you at the Embassy at elevep! I’ve got to 
see a man on shore! And I will tell the two hundred 
thousand dogs ,of Pera to spare you and your lovely 
Giaours.” 

While Hawtrey, catching a passing caique, was 
watching the diamond girdle of lights flashing out 


BROUGHT TO BA\ . 


9 


upon the blue-crested shores, the Princess Natalie 
Sovanoff, in whispered queries, drew out Julian Haw- 
trey’s antecedents from the unsuspicious host. 

Both the Russian and Austrian social freelances 
were dark beauties: the one accentuated with the 
mingled tenderness and audacity of the Russian 
“ dame de societe” — the other’s face bespoke all the 
mobile, laughter-loving winsomeness of the Wiener 
Delilah. 

Princess Natalie admired the clean-cut style of the 
great, blond Englishman — in his prime at thirty — a 
world-wanderer, whose every movement spoke of the 
London clubs, and the irritating self-possession of the 
Briton of race. 

And yet, there was a glassy hardness in Julian Haw- 
trey’s blue eyes — there were crafty crow’s-feet in their 
corners — and the thinned scalp spoke of late hours 
under the fierce lights of Vanity Fair. 

“Hawtrev?” sententiously confided Lord Avon- 
more. Good sort of fellow — clubman, and all that — 
Sandhurst man — was some years in the Ninth Lancers 
— went out. and new, is in all kinds of big projects in 
the City — on boards of directors, and all that kind- of 
thing.” 

Madame la Princesse lifted her eyebrows. “ Good 
family? ” she listlessly asked. 

“Oh! first-rate!” Avonmore answered. “Next 
heir to Sir Aubrey Iiawtrey, of Combermere, Wessex- 
sbire — one of cur old country families. His father. 
General Reginald Hawtrey, was in for the title, but he 
married some belle inconnue up in Stockholm, and. 
bv Jove, old Sir Edward, angered, went in for matri- 
mony, late in life — hence, Sir Aubrey. There was some 
kind of a rumpus, and Julian has a brother whom he 
never met — sided with the mother, you know. We’ve 
been looking him up out here! ” 

“ Raoul Hawtrey, an £colc Polytechnique man,” 
softly answered the Princess. “ I met him two years 
ago, in St. Petersburg — but, he is altogether different. 
V Frenchman, par excellence! Tell me, Lord Avon- 
more — is he rich — this Julian?” 

“ I fancy,” said the jolly yachtsman, “ that Julian is 
not a Rothschild. It would be different, you know, if 


IO 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


he should step into the family property. Sir Aubrey 
is thirty-eight, unmarried, and one of the wildest 
men in London. Burns the candle at both ends, you 
know! ” 

Whereat, the demure Princess at once decided to 
leave Julian Hawtrey to the tender mercies of that 
accomplished pigeon-plucker, the Grafin Koczi. 

“ Poor,” she reflected. “ Let her have him ! ” And^ 
so the Russian sirerdowered her eyes, and murmured,' 
“ Tell me of your own place in England! I should so 
dearly love to see it! ” 

The two falcons had already “ sized up ” all the 
other guests as “ not worth Idalian powder,” with 
woman’s childish aversion to freckles and raw, red 
hands, passing over Aberford, the Caledonian hobble- 
dehoy, whose income was several hundred pounds per 
diem! 

Although in the balmy Orient, where many of the 
commandments are a dead letter, this rich prize in 
“ unkilled veaj ” drifted out of the clutches of two of 
the nimblest Dianas, not guiltless, who ever missed a 
golden Actseon. 

Thoughts of this colossal stupidity, in later years 
almost tempted the pretty pair of pirates to suicide, 
when, a-fter the unchronicled “ hunting trip to Illyria,” 
they learned that Avonmore had saved a possible 
“ Jubilee Juggins ” from their slender, blue-veined, 
bediamonded claws! 

All unconscious of the safeguard of Avonmore’s 
disclosures, Julian Hawtrey, selecting a volunteer 
dragoman, stepped out of the Custom-house landing 
into an evening medley of the strangest figures on 
earth. Crowds of veiled women, soldiery, beggars, 
saucy, kilted Greekff»proud Arnauts, lordly Circas- 
sians, squalid children, grave Turks, and heteroge- 
neous foreigners were pouring to and fro over the 
Pera Bridge. 

A thousand diamond lights gleamed out over the 
exquisite outlines of the four cities; the hundred ships 
were idly rocking below on the blue and tranquil bay. 

From Seraglio Point, the notes of a gay band waltz 
were wafted — the narrow streets were filled with 
asses, gayly caparisoned mules, proud chargers. 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


II 


groaning wains, luxurious carriages, with flashing 
eyes at their windows; and the cries of the street 
venders mingled with the hoarse barking of the vast 
army of dogs, duly marshaled for the night, in their 
corps d’armce, divisions, brigades, and regiments! 

It was over several squads of these wistful-eyed, 
bushy tailed brown “ doggies,” that Julian Hawtrey 
was piloted to his carriage, placidly refusing the 
neighborly offers of German singers, Viennese waltz- 
ers, pretty gypsy wantons, and but too transparently 
disguised European Gulnares! 

“ I’ll make a round of all the clubs and hotels,” 
mused Hawtrey, as his eye curiously sought the 
lighted interiors, where polyglot beauties lured to 
their dens the transient tide of shipmen, tourists, 
sailors, globe-trotters, and the “ business subordin- 
ates ” of the European quarter. 

“ This is the very dream of a Walpurgis-nacht,” 
mused Hawtrey; “ Constantinople by night! ” 

And yet, though he had a few hundred pounds of 
his last available ready money in his waistcoat inner 
pocket, the English ex-Captain, calmly serene in the 
arrogance of the “ British Subject,” recked nothing of 
the dangers of thievish Armenian, man-ensnaring 
nymph, or prowling Greek. 

“ I’m all right, if I show up at eleven,” he mused, as, 
at last, he seated himself on the overhanging gallery 
of the Grand Hotel Victoria, with the faintly 
outlined Earthly Paradise a thousand feet below him. 

Far up the Golden Horn gleamed the red signal 
lights of the opera-bouffe Turkish fleet — the “ stay-at- 
homes ” of the sea, the battleships which never set 
sail, save for defeat, shipwreck, or some final nautical 
disgrace. “ It’s a rum old show, is Constantinople! ” 
mused the Briton. 

Hawtrey’s mind was far away from the coming ball, 
or the light-hearted merrymakers, lingering out there 
on the blue crystal, in the white and gold cabin of the 
dainty “ Dreadnaught.” 

His solicitors had verified their Cassandra-like 
croakings. “ Ready money I must soon have,” bitterly 
reflected the harassed man, “ or be sold out in the Ex- 


12 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


change — and, then — drop into the place of ‘ penniless 
gentleman.’ ” 

He recalled with wrath the gilded lure of “ The New 
Mexico Cattle Company, Limited,” which was to haVe 
been the pyramidal foundation of his later fortunes. 

There was an imperative call for his presence in 
London in two weeks — at an extraordinary meeting. 

The cabled news of the death of their resident 
manager, Major Howard Gibson (late H. B. M. 44th 
Regiment of Foot), was alarming, especially as the 
assistant manager, David Ross, Esq. — better known 
as “ Texas Dave ” — was on his way to England with 
important private communications. 

“Just like that duffer Gibson!” wrathfullv mused 
Hawtrey. “ All he could do was to fall from his horse 
and get killed. If this American scheme goes to pot, 
I am dished for life.” 

“ Hello, Eulenberg! ” cried the lonely man, as a tall 
German, bearing every earmark of the diplomat, 
seated himself at an adjoining table. “ What brings 
you here? ” 

“ Transferred from London,” genially answered the 
Teuton. “ First Secretary here, now! ” 

And, in five minutes, Hawtrey was sharing a bottle 
of Johannisberger with his quondam London chum, 
and Monsieur le Comte Armand La Tour, of the 
French Embassy. 

With an affected carelessness, Hawtrey began his in- 
vestigations as to the brother whom he had never seen 
— the object of a quaint search. 

“ Tiens! C’est drole!” laughed the Frenchman. 
“ Raoul Hawtrey and I were classmates at the ficole 
Polytechnique. I went out of the army into diplo- 
macy. There was something strange about his cit- 
izenship. He left the Corps des Ponts et Chaussees, 
wandered away to Russia, and — I met him here only 
yesterday! He has been a mining engineer in Asigi 
Minor. Raoul has been here for a few days with Ma- 
homet Abbas Pasha, the great Turkish Croesus, out 
at his superb country palace behind Buyukdere. II cst 
de votre famille, c’est comme ca? I am to meet him 
at the ball, to-night! ” 

“ A distant relative,” hastily answered Hawtrey, as 


BROUGHT TO BAY . 


13 


fie rose and exchanged cards with his new-maae 
friend. “ It’s the old story,” he laughed. “ The whole 
world meets on the Pera Bridge! I must be off ! But, 
I’ll see you later — at the ball. I’m on Avonmore’s 
yacht, the ‘ Dreadnaught,’ and I leave for London in 
a few days.” 

The diplomats laughed gavly. “ It’s only au revoir, 
for we are both bidden to breakfast on board to- 
morrow! La Comtcssc Kocsi, et la belle Princessc 
Sovanoff y seront aussi! Quclles charmantes dames! ” 

Hawtrey smiled as he bowed his adieu. “ These 
young gobcmouches are a part of the nimbus sur- 
rounding these dashing pirates de voyage ! ” he re- 
jected, as he slowly betook himself to the French 
Embassy. “ Deuced awkward to tell these fellows 
that I’ve a brother whom I never met, the son of a 
mother whom I have never seen! Our lingering in 
the Greek Sea, around Mitylene and the Isles, allowed 
him to get back here first! I fancy it would be just as 
well to keep him out of this gossipy circle, for, our 
family affairs would be a toothsome morsel for the 
gossips. I fancy I’ll find him a good deal of a 
Frenchman! ” 

With restrained impatience, Julian Hawtrey paced 
the fragrant gardens of the French Embassy, until the 
grand halls were filled with glittering uniforms and 
gleaming bosoms. 

The merry delegation from the “ Dreadnaught,” 
fil ing four stately victorias, was easily recognizable, 
f r “ the invisible spirit of wine ” had made them duly 
i cund. 

As the bell of the barrack nearby, tolled eleven 
T i’ian Hawtrey signaled to his waiting dragoman, 
'■nd, stepping out into the steep road, scarped on the 
verhanging hillside, entered his carriage and arrived 
in due state. 

In all the crush of the monde elegant of Constan- 
tinople Hawtrey at last fought his way up to where 
the Marquis de Veronville and la channante Marquise 
“ received ” with all the “ suaviter ” of the ancient 
regime. 

It was a brilliant salon. The dark, single-breasted 
coats of the fez-wearing Turkish grandees blazed with 


14 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


,ond stars and aigrettes which shamed the 

haughtiest belles of Giaourdom. 

A hundred dazzling uniforms, every type of wom- 
anly beauty and fashion, delighted the sedate Osmanli 
dignitaries, who, perched on divans, wondered why 
“ the Christian dogs ” exerted themselves to dance, 
when sprightly beauties could be hired, “ at going 
rates,” for unlimited saltatory exercise. 

In all this brilliant crush, Hawtrey’s steady eye 
sought only for the Count de la Tour. 

At last, in the dead angle, between the dancers and 
the supper-room, Hawtrey flushed his game. 

“ Ah! Vous voila, enfin!” cheerily cried the young 
Gaul. “ There’s your man, over there, just leaving . 
la Princess Sovanoff.” 

With a bow of thanks, the tall Englishman cut a 
corner of the dancers, and soon stood beside the 
object of his three months’ search. 

“ Let us go out in the garden, Monsieur,” quietly 
whispered Julian Hawtrey. “ I am the man you wait 
for here, and I care not for a curious crowd.” 

Tres bien, Monsieur mon frere,” answered Raoul 
Hawtrey, with ready aplomb. It was near the great 
entrance, as they struggled through the crowd, that 
Hawtrey ran across Lord Avonmore, with the lovely 
Hungarian Princess Ghika on his arm. 

“ I’m off for the yacht,” nodded Julian, with a sigh 
of envy, as Avonmore led his beautiful prize out to the 
dance. 

After all the sundered years of their childhood, boy- 
hood, and manhood, the two brothers, tete-a-tete, in 
the garden, met like two voyagers on an Atlantic liner. 

“Vous fumes?” hazarded Raoul, politely offering 
his cigar-case, to which Gallic phrase Julian replied 
with his curt English “ Thanks! ” accepting a regalia. 
By mere self-protective cunning, each brother clung 
to his native tongue. 

“ I’ve had a devil of - ~-~i to find you,” calmly began 
Tulian, “ and, but V- an d F renc i-, consuls 

in Asia Minor, I "Assed you. Here’s a 

sealed letter from >>' ‘ ’ file Duprat, No. 5 Rue 

Paradis, Paris, and we must meet to-morrow and go 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


15 


over matters. There’s some property to divide, you 
know! I must be off for London, at once.” 

“Mats, ou done?” placidly remarked Raoul, eyeing 
his stalwart elder brother with a curiously impassive 
glance. 

“ Say that I take a private room at the Royal Hotel 
Victoria?” answered Julian. “ Be there at nine and 
take breakfast with me! If we can finish our affair, 
I’ll be off for London in the evening train! ” 

“ Tres bien! ” rejoined the French member of the 
Hawtrey brotherhood. “ J’y serais a Vheare!” 

“ See here, you speak English, don’t you? ” de- 
manded Julian. 

“ Perfectly, I hope,” smilingly replied Raoul. 

“ Then, I beg you to keep our affairs secret ! 
I saw you with Princess Sovanoff ; I’d rather not have 
the yacht people know of any of my affairs! And so, 
you must return to the ball; and I will clear out! ” 

“I understand! a demain!” answered Raoul, as 
Julian signed to the waiting dragoman, and stalked 
away to his carriage. It was a strange brotherly 
meeting. , 

Raoul Hawtrey stood transfixed at this exhibition 
of British phlegm, until the carriage rolled away. 
“ Va! Gredin d’ Anglais!” he growled, relapsing 
into a British sneer. “ Like father, like son! ” 

The young French-bred offshoot of the Hawtreys 
slowly regained the splendid interior, where love and 
intrigue were now holding high revel. 

With a catlike tread, the graceful young man pen- 
etrated the throng, until he passed a corner where the 
courtly old Austrian Ambassador, the Prince Lichten- 
stein, was bending over the belle of the ball. 

A lightning glance of intelligence was exchanged 
between the Countess Laure Duvernay and the dark- 
eyed eleve of the Polytechnique. 

Not even the lynx-eyed Princess Sovanoff, whirling 
lightly by with the First Secretary, nor the white- 
coated Austrian dignitary at her side, saw Laure’s 
quick exchange of signals. 

Raoul Hawtrey sought a recessed corner in one of 
the alcoved rooms, where, with feverish hands, he tore 
open the sealed document of the notary. 


i6 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


It was fully fifteen minutes before he had concluded 
his careful perusal of the formal letter, and of a filmy 
sheet, crossed in a woman’s hand, which he nervously 
drew from an inner envelope. 

And then, stepping out on an overhanging balcony, 
he cooled his heated brow in the fragrant breezes 
blowing from the Sultan’s Garden of Eden at the Yd- 
diz Kiosk. 

“To Paris; back to Paris!’’ he muttered, “and 
Laure, she must go, too. I shall have need of her! 
And he must never know, Monsieur mon frere! ” 

There were a dozen pairs of bright eyes measuring 
all the graceful points of the young Frenchman, as he 
stood moodily leaning against- a pillar, his expressive 
eyes, with veiled restraint, searching that maze of 
loveliness for the woman whose very lightest mood 
now ruled his wayward heart. 

Raoul Hawtrey, at twenty-six, had not lost the dis- 
tinguished social manner of the Polytechnique. His 
handsome face was browned,, en militaire, with the 
Orient sun. A figure formed for symmetry and 
strength well bore off the air of race in his earnest and 
yet romantic countenance. 

Dark, wavy hair, a silken mustache, delicate fea- 
tures, and eyes gleaming like the flow of wintry 
waters, accentuated the youthful beauty of this 
French son of an English aristocrat. 

Suddenly he glided out, as Madame Laure Duver- 
nay sought a curtained nook to readjust a loosened 
filmy lace flounce. 

“ In half an hour, at your villa,” he whispered. “ It 
is vital; fortune has come to me. I leave for Paris 
at once; perhaps to-morrow! ” 

“ And, I ? ” gasped the beauty, hiding herself behind 
a Persian portiere. 

“Must follow, and share both life and fortune!” 
whispered Raoul. 

“ I will be there! ” murmured the Comtesse Duver- 
nay. “ Go, lest we be discovered! Veronville is a 
very devil of jealousy! I must think it all out, for he 
must fancy he sends me to Paris! He breakfasts 
with me to-morrow.” 

There was a mute pledge of their burning eyes as 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


17 


Raoul Hawtrey stole away bv a gallery opening into 
the garden, and then Madame la Comtesse glided 
back, to be rapturously clasped in a valsc a deux temps , 
by ‘Starhenstein, the princely Adonis of the Austrian 
Embassy. 

Far below them, as Raoul Hawtrey sought, in the 
discreet darkness, the jasmin-scented garden of a 
little hidden villa — while Laure Duvernay’s heart 
leaped up at the thought of Paris, a reopening heaven 
— the impassive Julian was being ferried out over the 
sparkling waters to the “ Dreadnaught.” 

“ I wonder how this same windfall will cut up! ” 
mused the English brother. “ Damn the jackanapes 
of a notary! He would only talk ‘ when all the heirs 
are present,’ and this fellow seems to be a French 
dancing-master! I’ll be put hard for time to get to 
London for the meeting, and he must join me in Paris. 
Looks like a crafty beggar, by Jove! I’ll pump him 
at the breakfast! ” 

The hot-hearted man, waiting stealthily there in 
that jasmin-scented garden for the light-footed beauty 
stealing away from the ball, had already sworn an 
oath, deeply cursing the father who gave to them a 
common name. 

“ Pauvre mere,” he growled. “ Je m’en souviens 
toujours!” For, it was a legacy of hate, not a bond 
of love, which had come to the sons of the late Major- 
General Reginald Hawtrey, C. B., H. M. E. I. Service. 

Raoul Hawtrey, lingering in the dense shades of the 
leafy garden, waited impatiently for the arrival of the 
beauty whose concealed empire over the courtly Mar- 
quis Veronville was known alone to him. 

It was a dangerous secret, even for Constantinople, 
where the red rose bears the color of Love and Death 
in its blushing bosom. 

Too well he knew Laure’s adroitness to think of any 
sudden departure, following his own. 

And, even the phlegmatic English brother might be 
on his trail now! He listened to the nightingale’s soft 
notes, trilling in the cypress groves below, until the 
wheels of an approaching carriage at last aroused 
him ! There was the gaudy splendor of the dragoman 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


18 

of the French Embassy flashing out upon the box of 
the Ambassador’s own coupe. 

When p.1! was still, Raoul advanced to a dark win- 
dow, shaded by the overhanging myrtle. 

Three slight taps caused the long French sash to 
swing, and, in a moment, in the hushed night, he felt 
Laure’s heart beating against his own. 

“ The servants! ” he murmured. 

“ All shut off by the stairway doors, in the stories 
below. And, my maid is about her vacation! ” merrily 
cried the soi-disant Countess Laure, drawing him in£o 
an inner octagonal boudoir, where thick Persian cur- 
tains shut off the rest of the jewel-box villa, budded on 
the slopes of a steep hill, bowered in a charming 
garden. 

“ It was so easy! ” laughed Laure. “ I was waltzing 
with Lichtenstein ; a spasm of the heart trouble seized 
me. Veronville himself sent me back in his own car- 
riage! Mine was far down the line. And, in the cor- 
ridor, I had time to whisper, ‘ I must go to Paris to 
consult Richepin, the specialist.’ 

“ ‘ Carte blanche you shall have,’ he hastily said. 
‘ And, there is a cabal against me; you can counteract 
themT 

“ Now, mon amant, your budget?” 

Her ardent lover was kneeling before her, his eager 
gaze drinking in her loveliness. 

“ You have been my guiding star, Laure,” he pas- 
sionately cried, kissing the slender hands, from which 
she had just drawn 'the long gants de bal. “ We 
must combine all for our future benefit! I will see 
Mahomet Abbas Pasha! I will vaguely hint that the 
French Government is intriguing with the Russian 
alliance, again! I must, for your safety, leave first! 
Abbas will see you at Buyukdere. He will surely send 
for you ! And you can reap a golden harvest from the 
Sultan’s' coffers through him. Your role is a simple 
one. It is simply to play off Veronville’s mysteries, 
through the Turkish Embassy at Paris, upon the Sub- 
lime Porte here. Mahomet Abbas Pasha will make 
much of your revelations, if only to strengthen him- 
self! There is our double victory! And you can well 
afford to risk the campaign! ” 


BROUGHT TO EA\ ; . 


*9 


He drew out the notary’s letter. “ I have fallen 
heir to a handsome sum, in ready money! Over two 
hundred thousand francs in cash, and, there is a 
further windfall, to be delivered over to me, in con- 
fidence.” 

Laure bent down and threw her white arms around 
her lover’s neck, kissing him rapturously. 

“ What must I do? ” she murmured. 

“ Only await me here, to-morrow night, at this 
same hour! There is one here who is my secret, my 
hereditary foe! I will have further details at Paris. 
Duprat dared not risk the confidential documents by 
mail. The game is to be played out there! W'e only 
have Abbas Pasha and Veronville to hoodwink here! 
We must not be seen together! Settle up your affairs! 
Let Veronville furnish your journey splendidly. 
It will give him faith. You can see Richepin, and 
easily mystify the old expert in diseases of the heart! 
Abbas Pacha is a child in your hands! You risk 
nothing with him! 

“ I will go on, direct by train to Paris, for what 
spies may not watch me? Your signature will be 
‘ Auguste Lenoir.’ A petit bleu will reach me at 
Duprat’s! Do not dare to write or telegraph to me in 
Turkey. Go to the Hotel de l’Aigle at Suresnes, on 
your reaching Paris. I shall be there to meet you, 
at the house of my old nurse, a stone’s throw away! 
Then, we will drink the Cup of Love, its rosy- 
diamond shower, to the last drop! ” 

“ And, your foe ? ” tremblingly said Laure. 

Raoul’s face darkened, as he muttered, “ Piano, por 
mi vendetta! He shall feel my vengeance in the core 
of his heart! All this you will learn only at Paris! 
The curtain raises there on the drama of my life ! This 
is but the prologue! ” 

“ This is the Lurleiberg! And, you are my captive 
Tannhauser! ” cried Laure, with a smile of ineffably 
provoking passion. Raoul Hawtrey dreamed alone, 
over a cigarette of priceless Syrian tobacco, until 
Madame la Comtesse Laure Duvernay returned, with 
her exquisite form draped onlv in a rose-colored pei- 
gnoir, her rich, brown hair falling in tangled masses 
over a neck whiter than the snows of Olympus. 


20 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


The reckless lover had long forgotten to ask 
whether the vicarious title, or even the name Laure 
Duvernav, was the legal birthright of this glowing 
Hebe. Raoul started up at the vision of audacious 
loveliness. “ You are divine to-night, Laure,” he rap- 
turously cried. 

In the flush of a superb beauty at twenty-three, 
Laure Duvernay’s cheek of rose shamed the fairest 
beauties of Circassia; the low Greek brows were 
crowned with the silken aureole of her rippling brown 
hair, and the wistful, appealing eyes, shaded with their 
fringing lashes, brought all men to their knees before 
her. 

An Arlesienne in the molded symmetry of her 
splendid figure, this guileless looking woman crowned 
her empire with a voice sweet and low as the summer 
winds. 

In music and the dance she had led captive all the 
virtuosos of the embassies; and even the agnostic, 
banded critics of the circle diplomatique — those 
marble-hearted foes of woman — reluctantly classed 
her as grande dame, jusq’au bout dcs onglcs! 

And, not even Abbas Pasha, whose vast possessions 
were scattered from Damascus to the Pruth, and 
from the Bosporus to Kars; not Veronville, the 
master of a mighty secret-service fund; not Kourakin, 
the wily Russian; nor Lichtenstein, the crafty Aus- 
trian, could trace back the strange life-path of the 
woman who betrayed them all in the passion of her 
heart for the man who now clasped her in his arms. 

The last carriage had rolled away, the rosy flush of. 
the point du jour was tinting the far-away purpled 
Asian hills to the east, when Raoul Hawtrey, a too- 
willing Samson, had told the fairest of Delilahs the 
strange story of the fortune which had followed him 
for two years in his scientific exile in Asia Minor. 

But. Hassan, Raoul’s faithful slave of years, much 
marveled when awakened from his sleep before his 
blaster’s doors at the Croix de Malte. “ Rouse me at 
eight! Have a carriage at half-past eight! I am 
bidden to breakfast with an English lord at the Vic- 
toria, at nine! ” drowsily cried the young scientist, as 
he threw himself down upon his couch. 


BROUGHT TO h.W . 


There was a game of keen wits before him, and. 
beyond that, the unknown future stretched out, shad- 
owed in gray mists! 

“ Can I trust Laure? ” murmured the handsome ad- 
venturer, as his eyes closed. “ I must, for she is a 
part of mv own life now! I can not live without her! ” 

No such misgivings disturbed Laure Duvernay’s 
luxurious slumber! “ Paris, with Raoul — a heaven on 
earth!” She smiled, amid her happy sighs. “ Mais 
il faut tres bicn joucr mon role ici! Veronville is a 
demon of jealousy, and Abbas, at heart, as cruel as a 
tiger! Only when at Vienna am I safe, and, even in 
Paris, there are spies!” And yet, she smiled con- 
fidently, for her woman’s wit was ready at call, and the 
game was all her own to make now! “ I will con- 
quer! ” She smiled as she saw her own mocking love- 
liness in the glass. 

The Swiss Oberkellner of the Royal Hotel Victoria 
approvingly noted the thorough good form of the two 
voung men who sedately discussed the breakfast, 
proudly served as a chef d' oeuvre of Byzantine luxury. 

In the golden morning sunlight, Julian Hawtrey. 
fresh and blond, cool and unruffled, in his tweeds and 
pith hat with its flowing puggaree, was the very an- 
tithesis cf the darkly clad, delicate-looking young 
French Efi'endi, in, his single-breasted frock and fez. 
with the rosette of the Legion, and a star of the Med- 
jidje, to indicate the grade of Turkish “ high life.” 

The brothers had met in all the calm insouciance of 
our unemotional modern epoch, each ready to let the 
other play the leading card. 

Julian’s stalwart ruggedness, his blunt English 
manner, had been charmingly met by Raoul’s delicate 
French courtesy. 

Secretly regarding each other, like secutor and 
retiarius, the usual chatter of the Orient carried them 
up to the cigars and Turkish coffee. 

Before they sought a shaded, remdte corner on the 
deserted balconv. with the witching scenes of Istam- 
bol spread out before them. Julian knew briefly the 
skeleton facts of Raoul’s early life. 

Educated alone in the country regions of France, 
going from the Lycee to the Polytechnique, with a 


22 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


brief tour of official service, the young engineer had 
taken a specialized course in mining, and then, after 
wanderings in Russia and Circassia, seeking a vulner- 
able point of the world’s unopened oyster, had fallen 
into the favor of Mahomet Abbas Pasha. 

The development of a most valuable iron mine near 
Damascus, interrupted by Kurdish inroads, and the 
later flooding of the mine with water, had caused 
Mahomet to avail himself of the help of syndicated 
foreign capital, and, of his four years of “ wander- 
jahre,” three had been exhausted in his lonely life in 
Asia Minor, or buried in the obscurity of the Pasha’s 
vast domains. 

Raoul felt a secret triumph in closing his recitals, 
skillfully omitting all his work as a secret political 
spy upon all the' foreign embassies, and his theft of the 
wavering heart of the woman who was Veronville’s 
unfaithful Egeria, and who, safe in her protected 
nationality, also tyrannized over Abbas Pasha’s smol- 
dering affections. 

“ It is thus, Monsieur mon frcre” calmly said 
Ra.oul, “ that I have ignored for two years the death 
of our mother, and that the notary’s repeated inquiries 
failed to meet me. As an employee of the higher 
Turkish nobility, I have been practically cut off from 
letters, and, naturally avoided the Legations! The 
Turks are jealous masters! A man simply disappears 
— and leaves no sign here — when he is suspected! ” 

Toying with his priceless Oriental rings, dreamilv 
exhaling the blue smoke of his cigarette, Raoul keenly 
watched his stranger brother. “ He thinks that I 
have been lying to him; bien, let him now lie to me! ” 

“ Naturally,” calmly began Julian, “ General Haw- 
trev’s long absence in India on service, caused me to 
grow up a stranger to him. From Eton, rushed off to 
a preparatory school, then, sent to Sandhurst, I went 
out later to India, and joined the Ninth Lancers. My 
father was a man of few words. He was a traveler 
and globe-trotter after his retirement. 

“ He died while I was serving in India; his pension 
ended with him, and, save a very fine collection of 
arms and a few books of travel and military affairs, he 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 23 

left me nothing but a collection of choice military 
medals, hardly enough earned, I will warrant! 

“ And then, when tired out with the service, I threw 
up my commission. Returning to London, I lay 
around the clubs and went in for a lot of things. A 
few thousand pounds left to me by Sir Everard Haw- 
trey in the hands of trustees, had grown to twenty 
thousand or more, before I could reach it, at twentv- 
five. 

“ And, I was far away in western America, mixed 
up in a great cattle company, when this Duprat began 
to send me these communications. All that I could get 
from him in Paris, was that, when the other heir was 
found, he would divide the trust funds properly be- 
tween us. And hence, the circular letters to all British 
and French consuls in the Orient to look you up! ” 

Julian stopped bluntly, and nursed his cigar, fur- 
tively eyeing his Gallicized brother. 

“ The fellow’s well enough put up,” mused Julian. 
“ Looks as if he could handle a rapier, or show up well 
in what these queer fellows call ‘ Le Sport! ’ ” 

The elder brother, a burly athlete, little recked that 
Raoul Hawtrey’s vicious rapier and deadly pistol had 
often been a bitter revelation to the chreless antag- 
onists of his wild life in the Orient. 

“ Allons enfin! ” briskly said Raoul. “ There is but 
one thing to do! You are en route for London. I 
will follow you on, at once. It seems, from the 
notary’s brief legal summation of facts, that there is 
about two hundred thousand francs in gold awaiting 
each of us, on proof of your identity, and our joint 
appearance.” 

Julian was keefnly studying his brother’s coun- 
tenance. “ This crafty chap is not telling me the 
whole truth,” he reflected. 

But, his voice was unruffled as he said, “ Did it ever 
strike you as strange that our parents lived so long 
apart, for I have never even heard my father mention 
the existence of our mother, and I have not ever 
dreamed of your being in this world, until Duprat 
wrote. It is too late for me to find out anything! 
General Hawtrey destroved all his private papers! ” 

Raoul’s voice trembled slightly as he answered, 


24 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


“ And, my mother — our mother — I can only remem- 
ber as a pale, graceful woman, habitually dressed in , 
black! From my very entrance into the Lycee, I 
have never seen her face again, but, I can remember 
a serious remark, ‘ Your father was a general in the 
English Army, and, he is dead! You belong to me, 
you are my son, and, a Frenchman! ’ She never spoke 
of him! I was not aware of the honor you have done 
me, in being my brother! ” 

“ It’s a gloomy outlook,” muttered Julian. “ Per- 
haps the family papers which you may find may en- 
lighten us! Let us bury that dead past! Now, tele- 
graph to me at the JuniorUnited Service Club. Charles 
Street, London, when you reach Paris, and I’ll then 
run over and see you! I’ll bring all my papers, cer- 
tified at the French Embassy.” * 

A few hours later, jolly Lord Avonmore watched 
Julian Hawtrey’s launch bear the departing traveler 
away. 

“ Poor fellow,” he sighed. “ Short of * tin,’ I’m 
afraid! Looks all cut up! ” 

And, sullenly, Julian Hawtrey gazed back at the 
hills of the Golden City, as the train drew out that 
night. “ This beggarly eight thousand pounds is all 
I have between me and ruin!” he growled. “I 
wonder if the French gang are swindling me out of my 
share in the estate of ‘ Madame Mystery,’ my un- 
known mother! ” 

Three days later, Laure Duvernay clung sobbing to 
her lover, as he followed his elder, in pursuit of the 
long-delayed legacy. “ Trust me, Raoul,” she whis- 
pered. “Veronville is duped to the last! He has 
played the prince! And, Abbas Pasha has been fooled 
to the top of his bent! I follow in two days — then, 
life and love in Paris is our heritage! ” 

Snatching the roses from her breast, Raoul broke 
the spell of her clinging arms! “There is a heaven 
before you there! ” he cried; and then, when at last 
en route, he cried, “ First, her life story; my mother; 
then, Vengeance! ” 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


25 


CHAPTER II. 

THE NEW MEXICO CATTLE COMPANY’S EXTRAORDINARY 
MEETING “ TEXAS DAVE.” 

It was only when the “ Grand Oriental ” had 
reached Budapest, that valet So^mes found his 
moody master returning to the matter-of-fact activity 
of intellect which marked the daily life of that wide- 
awake young Briton, Captain Julian Hawtrey. 

Julian had bitterly regretted his treatment de haut 
en bas of the alert young French-bred brother. “ I 
might have drawn him out a bit,” mused Julian, with 
a tardy self-condemnation. “ For, now I’ve only to be 
satisfied with what they give me! ” 

And so, he mentally decided to cultivate his un- 
known fraternal relation a bit on their meeting in 
Paris. 

“ Evidently the Governor was a hard-headed old 
party,” mused Julian. “ But, I’ll look over London a 
bit on my return.” Soames grinned quietly,, for he 
had followed the young Frenchman from the break- 
fast, and had even watched his last nocturnal tryst with 
Laure Duvernay. 

With a sort of sneaking self-consciousness of fore- 
stalling Raoul, the returning yachtsman laid over a 
day in Paris. 

And yet, all in vain, for Monsieur Achille Duprat 
gazing frostily out of his watery blue eyes, promptly 
escorted him to the door of No. 5 Rue Paradis, with 
a wealth of polite flourish and perfunctory salaams. 

“ The papers — the family archives, les pieces jus- 
ticatives, they are not? I succeeded, Monsieur, to 
the business of le feu Ravignol, Notairc, and, this mat- 
ter — a compounding deposit of rentes in trust — was an 
old deposit. As for la Veuve Hawtrey, I have no rcn- 
seignements! Madame cst morte, c’est tout P hist air c. 
This sum— so conside*" 1 "' — is the proceeds of a 
lump sum once deposi.c 's an annuity with the 
Banque de France, unused by Mad*.me, and so al- 
lowed to compound on reinvestment. There are with 
me no family papers! ” 


26 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


With lame apologies and an invented excuse as to 
the details of his papers of identification, Julian Haw- 
trey faced the discomforts of the Channel to enter into 
the hopeless muddle of his entangled speculations. 

“ Raoul may have had these papers before — he may 
have even doubted my identity,” grumbled Julian, as 
he sped up from Folkestone to London. His buoyed- 
up self-esteem would have suffered had he followed 
Monsieur Duprat, a quaint figure in a horizontal- 
brimmed silk tile and huge green umbrella to the Bu- 
reau dcs Telcgraphes, on his quitting the old Notary’s 
office. 

It was at Vienna that the excited Raoul, hurrying 
on to the Seine, read the words : “ English claimant 

here, demanding family papers. I had none to show. 
Hurry on. His manner seems suspicious.” 

“Bravo, Duprat!” gaylv cried Raoul. “ So, my 
English brother is heir to his father’s cool brutality ! 
I was right to deny all knowledge ! For, now, Du- 
prat's denying all knowledge of the family will back 
up my prudent lying! For, a lie, to succeed, must be 
well stuck to.” 

And, again, Rcoul blessed himself tb~' 1 °d lured 
that fine mouche, Laure Duvernay, on to Paris. 

“ She can aid me to trap him ! ” he musm. 

It had been a happy thought, his own first telegram 
from Stamboul to old Duprat to bury forever the his- 
tory of feu Madame la Generale Hawtrey from the 
inquisitive English co-heir. 

“ Brave vicillard! ” proudly cried Raoul, with a pro- 
found gratitude for the services of the old Notary, 
who had been the only visitor — the sole “ Greek bear- 
ing gifts ” — of his schoolboy days at the Lycee, and 
his adolescent years at the Polytechnique. 

“ There must have been some secret reason for old 
Duprat’s slavish devotion to mv mother,” mused 
Raoul. “ A youthful passion — an unhappy one — an 
unrewarded love ! For, it is only that which is faith- 
ful across the frail bridge of declining years ! True to 
the last, because unsuccessful ! ” 

And yet, a practical man of the world, Raoul’s heart 
bounded in joy! “I score the first trick! It was 
adroit to wire Duprat to ignore all knowledge of me 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


2 7 


save the mere catalogue of the Polytechnique. For 
ce chicn d’ Anglais would have undermined me, from 
the first ! Now I am armed, at all points ! And, per- 
haps, Laure shall yet trap him — for me ! ” 

The young world-wanderer dashed homeward on the 
next train. 

For, in the faded letter traced by a mother's hand, 
was the promise of the unfolding of the mystery which 
had kept General Reginald Hawtrey and his wife sun- 
dered for twenty years — a legacy of hate which had 
stamped the dissimilar sons as aliens to each other, 
though of the same natal blood ! 

Two days after his Parisian discomfiture, Julian 
Hawtrey, pacing down Piccadilly, was revolving plans 
for exploiting some of General Hawtrey’s surviving 
chums at the Junior United Service. 

Even amid his cares as “ promoter,” and tinkering 
the architecture of his shattered fortunes, the dissatis- 
fied man now yearned for'light upon his parental his- 
tory. “ There must be some old fellows, yet extant, 
who would remember the faded gossip of that time,” 
mused Julian. 

It struck him . now as singular that no picture of his 
unknown mother had survived the General’s demise. 

In this quandary, the tall young fellow breasted the 
human tide, in proper silk hat, umbrella of classic 
slimness, and Prince Albert — rose and all — uncon- 
scious of many a flattering glance. 

“ By Jove ! ” was the exclamation as he collided with 
a pedestrian sauntering solemnly westward. Julian’s 
features relaxed, as he good-humoredly murmured an 
apology and exclaimed : “ The very man of all others 

whom I wished to see ! I must have five minutes with 
you ! ” 

“ Come over to the Carlton, then ! ” gasped Sir 
Aubrey Hawtrey, putting up his monocle. “ That will 
give me time to catch my breath. Where on earth 
have you been ? You are as brown as a Bedouin. ” 

Once within the club, over a brandy and soda in 
the smoking-room, Julian briefly sketched his yachting 
trip, adroitly leaving out all reference to the recently 
discovered brother. 

With a secret exultation, he noted the greenish pal- 


28 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


lor of the Baronet's face and the tremulous grasp of 
the crystal glass containing the young nobleman’s in- 
sidious comforter, absinthe. Sir Aubrey’s set was the 
very fastest in London, and even his twenty thousand 
a year was not up to the limit of his “ High Life.” 

“ And you? ” demanded the heir-presumptive, when 
he had finished his own crafty recital. 

“ Knocking about Paris, a run to Monte Carlo, a 
few weeks in Vienna — the old thing,” testily replied 
Sir Aubrey, whose keen eye had noted Julian’s critical 
survey of his physical condition. 

Pale, thin-chested, with straggling hair and wasted 
limbs, the possessor of the title did not look to be an 
heir to old Parr’s sheaf of ripened years. 

“ You’re sizing me up, old chap ! You may come in 
for the property some of these days ; but, after all, it’s 
only a matter of relative position ! Now, with your 
well-known’ ascetic tastes, and my money, Pll give you 
ten to one you won’t live two years! Mark that in 
your betting-book — only,” he snarled. “ I won’t be 
here to pay you! Never mind! C'cst bicn egal! 
You’ll have your fling! Now — what can I do for 
you ? ” 

The wary Sir Aubrey half closed his eyes and 
whistled softly when Julian bluntly demanded some 
news of the late General Hawtrey’s private life. 

“ You know what Sir Everard was — my Governor, 
a close enough old man — embittered and soured. He 
led my lady mother a devil of a life ! And, I fancy that 
the General was of the same genial mold ! We, none 
of us, wear our hearts on our sleeve ! ” 

After a fit of racking coughing, followed by a second 
absinthe, the owner of splendid Combermere spoke out 
frankly enough. “ All I can tell you is that my father 
and yours were once great cronies — fill, as usual, a 
woman came between them ! Major Reginald Haw- 
trey was our military attache at Stockholm after the 
Crimean war. Sir Everard went salmon fishing in 
Norway, and he sailed around to Stockholm in his 
famous old yacht ‘ Corsair ’ to see his kinsman. Now, 
it happened that a beautiful French singer was, at that 
time, the reigning divinity. Whatever her name was, 
Fve really forgotten. ‘La Mystcrieuse’ is the only 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


2 9 


name I’ve heard the Governor ever use. He wanted 
to carry her off, a prize, a mere hostage of Venus ! By 
gad, Sir, for once, money did not carry the day ! She 
married Major Reginald. To do the lady in question 
justice,” quickly added Sir Aubrey, noting Julian's 
flaming cheeks, “ she was far above the tongue of 
calumny. The embittered cousins never spoke after- 
ward. My father was no marrying man, but, in sheer 
spite, after your birth, he wedded his nearest neigh- 
bor’s half-consumptive only child, and so doubled the 
estate, wrecked his happiness, and, gave me this her- 
itage of amemic misery! Damn the whole business! 
Your side of the house will have the doubled estates — 
some day ! ” 

“And, my father and mother?” breathlessly de- 
manded Julian. 

“ There I’m stumped,” carelessly answered Sir Au- 
brey. “ Old Wilkinson, my father’s head gamekeeper, 
who taught me to ride and shoot, told me all that I 
1 now. The old man is grumbling over his pipe and 
mug, now, down at Combermere. All that I could 
ever gather — for, frankly, I cared little — was that your 
father had some final and fatal quarrel with the myste- 
rious beauty. He took her first child away — you are 
that interesting object. He then left her forever, went 
to India, came back and died after his promotion and 
retirement, a thorough woman-hater, like my Gover- 
nor. Though my own mother was dead, and yours 
living, a recluse, I believe, in some French convent, the 
estranged kinsmen never met again. The same 
woman doomed them both to a bitter old age! And 
yet, I fancy they were hard parties to put up with ! ” 

Sir Aubrey’s longest recorded speech led up to a 
third absinthe. 

“ That’s all? ” cried Julian, in a dissatisfied tone. 

“ Yes ! ” grumbled Sir Aubrey, pulling out his 
watch. “I’ve to leave you now! Positive engage- 
ment ! Stay ! ” he cried, with a sudden gleam of recol- 
lection. “ There’s a woman’s picture — I found it be- 
hind a moving panel of Sir Everard’s favorite writing- 
desk. The painter’s name and the words ‘ Stockholm, 
1857,’ give the only clew! I’ll write to old Marbury, 


30 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


my house steward, to pack it carefully and send it to 
you at your club ! What do you know of this ? ” 

“Absolutely nothing!” blankly answered Julian. 
" My father died mute, and destroyed every bit of his 
personal life records, before his final seizure.” 

“ Well, you have my whole budget! ” cried Sir* Au- 
brey, as he led his visitor out of the Club, and then 
disappeared into a four-wheeler. “ I’d have you for 
dinner, but I’m off to-night for Paris for a month. 
They tell me that I must consult old Richepin, the 
specialist.” 

Julian, disappointed at the meager disclosures, 
watched the disappearing cab with an ill-concealed 
hostility. 

“ Purse-proud cad ! ” he sneered ; and then, swing- 
ing his umbrella viciously, he marched on his way, 
quickened with a new thought ! “ If this eight thou- 

sand pounds is well handled, it may tide me over till 
this callous brute finishes his course of absinthe! Et 
aprcs, there is life, real life, before me then, wealth, 
Parliament, and an advantageous marriage ! ” 

He sat late that night working over his tangled pa- 
pers, and girded his loins for the struggle of the mor- 
row, when the New Mexico Cattle Company’s dismal 
affairs should be dragged out for an unwelcome venti- 
lation in the foggy atmosphere of the city. 

“ Six months’ grace ! By Heavens, I’ll soon drop 
into twenty thousand a year, and one of the finest old 
places in England!” The wearied-out schemer fell 
into a happy slumber. 

That night he dreamed of the shadowy face of La 
Mysterieuse , the bright-eyed daughter of France — 
the strange woman who had left only misery and un- 
happiness behind her. 

” There’s the secret of old Sir Everard leaving me 
nly the few beggarly thousand pounds ! Her picture 
was hidden in his desk till the day of his death ! Her 
- hild was the recipient of his only gift. He hated her 
bard heart ! After all, he loved her — poor old duffer ! 
Truly, La Mysterieuse — for this starveling son dreams 
not, even now, of Monsieur Raoul’s existence ! He 
shall never know — if I can prevent it ! There is yet an 
unsolved mystery across the Channel! Monsieur 


DROUGHT TO BAY. 


31 


moil frcre may be some other man’s child, and — poor 
old dad — perhaps he was duped and tricked by a pretty 
adventuress ! My future lies in old England, and 
my crown at Combermere ! I'll hold this French chap 
off at arm’s length.” 

Mr Julian Hawtrey, one .of the board of three man- 
aging directors of the New Mexico Cattle Company 
(Limited), of London, England, and Coyote, Rio 
Arriba County, New Mexico, U. S. A., was the very 
acme of financial sobriety as he took his seat at the di- 
rectors’ table the next day. 

It was a depressing, foggy afternoon, and the streets 
of London at 2 p. m. were filled with sad-faced men, 
apparently mirzzled, and fiercely trying to bite through 
their hideous respirators. 

It was a gloomy enough meeting, a gloomy subject 
to discuss (that of a serious deficit), and a most gloomy 
proposal — of an assessment of five shillings on the 
pound to merely carry on the unsuccessful affairs of 
the crippled company. 

The company’s offices on Ludgate Circus were now 
crowded with anxious widows, half-pay officers, eco- 
nomical clergymen, and a burly minority of red-faced 
tradesmen who had been lured into the splendid 
scheme so hopefully launched five years before. 

But the “Texas bull ” had not materialized into gold- 
en sovereigns, and Julian Hawtrey, with a calm finan- 
cial forethought, arrived a good half an hour late. 

Murmurs of disapprobation followed the appearance 
of the man who had allowed his two disgruntled fellow- 
committeemen to briefly announce the tidings of a 
financial Battle of Cannae to the irate British investor ! 
He alone, of all the officers, had visited the alluring 
mesas of New Mexico which they had vainly plated 
with British gold ! 

With considerable sly cunning, Hawtrey had al- 
lowed the chairman, Sir John Bingo, K.C.B., of Rose- 
bank Lodge, Southsea. to announce the untoward 
news of the death of Manager Gibson, and the pres- 
ence of Assistant Manager David Ross, of Texas. 

There were loud cries of “ Hear ! Hear ! ” when the 
Chairman stated that Committeeman Hawtrey would 
follow the Texan envoy in a few explanatory remarks. 


32 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


Julian sedately shook hands with the stranger, who, 
modestly but manfully, “ faced the music.” 

“ Texas Dave ” was a short, stocky man of hardened 
muscle, clad in a ,gray knockabout suit, his earnest, 
careworn countenance betokening much dodging of 
“ Comanches ” and apprehensive watching of men’s 
pistol hands. 

His face was coppery-brown, save the fair forehead 
under the broad-brimmed sombrero which he clung to. 
A sandy mustache and defiant “ goatee ” gave an air 
of grim determination to his features, his turn-down 
collar and ' “ cowboy ” tie betokening his scorn of 
“ Poole’s beauty-giving gentlemen’s outfits ! ” 

Straightforward and manly, the Texan related the 
almost insensible business changes of the last five 
years. 

The rise in price of stock cattle, the gradual fencing 
up of the great Texan prairies, the growing barbed- 
wire inclosures, cutting off free pasture, and the 
priceless water — all these were truthfully set out. 

The greater distance in driving to market, due to a 
removal across the Texan line into New Mexico, the 
enormous expenses of men (experienced vaqueros), 
“ to work the cattle ” and protect the herds; the tyr- 
anny of the great butchering trusts, and the greed of 
the railway tyrants — all these discouraging features 
were set out, in accents which forced conviction. 

Julian Hawtrey closely eyed the three or four hun- 
dred stockholders who had looked to him as a respon- 
' sible agent and a protector of the two hundred thou- 
sand pounds capital which now seemed to be “ perma- 
nently exiled.” 

When “Texas Dave ” paused at last, the frontiers- 
man took a drink of water from that pitcher and tum- 
bler which is one of the shining ornaments of all pub- 
lic meetings. 

“ Is there any investor who would like to ask me 
any questions? ” Ross asked, mopping his burning 
forehead with a trailing bandanna. The hawk-eyed 
“ cow-puncher ” was more rattled than his brave old 
father leading his Texans into Battery Robinett, at 
Van Dorn’s Waterloo of Corinth! 

Economical of words, “ Texas Dave ” had account- 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


33 


ed for the late Major Gibson as " bucked off his horse, 
and got his neck broke clean off! Died on the 
ground ! ’’ 

Evidently there was nothing to look for, ex parte 
Gibson, and so, a wild chorus of discontent arose: 

“ What’s to be done? Tell us! ” 

With self-deprecation, Texas Dave glanced behind 
him to see if the well-fed directors had not stampeded. 
“ Durn the whole lot! ” mused Dave, gazing angrily 
on the bald-headed band of well-dressed aristocrats, 
the incapables who had drawn their fat salaries regu- 
larly. “ These old chaps get all the money, and that 
other outfit get all the experience. 

“ I had a-wanted to talk this thing over with Cunnel 
Hawtrey,” he said, slowly, with a reproachful glance 
at the suave Julian. “ But, I’ll just shoot the proposi- 
tion out to you ! Now, there’s Don Andres Armijo — 
the biggest sheep-owner in New Mexico — has a ranch 
of fifty square leagues in Valencia and Bernalillo 
Counties, well watered and grassed. He’s got the land 
and water to graze two hundred thousand head of cat- 
tle, and he doesn’t want it to be ruined by sheep ! Our 
own lands in Rio Arriba we were badly stuck on. 
They’re short of water and filled. up with gramma 
grass — and, it’s only good for sheep! Now, Don 
Andres proposes to swap, herd for herd, taking our 
cattle as they run, at fifteen dollars, and giving us half- 
bred sheep, at three. He will pay off all the company’s 
floating debt, and turn over his Mexican herders at ten 
dollars a month to replace our stockmen at thirty. 
The ‘ pastores ’ all work afoot! Sending a good 
man out there, buying two hundred good Merino 
rams, and changing your cattle operation into a sheep- 
raising company, suspending all extra expenses, in two 
years, you’ll be more than square! In five years, you 
can pay a handsome dividend for the last three, and 
also save all your investment. 

“ And there’s but one man able to put this deal 
through — that’s Cunnel Hawtrey ! ” 

The simple Western frontiersman had succinctly 
covered the whole subject — and his honest, straightfor- 
ward manner went to all hearts. 

An orphan lad, a graduate of King’s Santa Ger- 


34 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


trucks Ranch, “Texas Dave,” who neither used oaths, 
liquor, nor tobacco — a cowboy \Vho never had played 
• card — was the very antithesis of the frontier desper- 
ado, though he sighed often that he had been forced 
to abridge the lives of several denizens of the West, in 
she er self-defense. 

When he handed up Don Andres Armijo’s letter of 
reference to the richest London banker and a bundle 
of formal documents, there was a hum of awakened 
interest. 

Loud cries of “ Hawtrey ! Hawtrev ! Let us hear 
from him ! ” arose, with many interpolations. “ Give 
the Committee power, and let Captain Hawtrey go 
out ! ” 

But Julian, deprecating his Texan promotion to 
“ Cunnel,” hung back, until “ Texas Dave ” led him a 
moment aside into the little anteroom. The Texan’s 
eyes were filled with a burning anxiety. “ You must 
go out with me! You are the only man who can do 
it! Talk up to them ! And, I have got a ‘ dead thing ’ 
for vou to make a million ‘ on the side,’ in something 
else ! ” 

“ What is it? ” eagerly cried Julian, his cupidity at 
once aroused. 

There was no self-deception in that resolute face ! 
No glassy glare of the dreamer in those steady eyes. 
“ I’ll only tell you to-night, at your own shebang, 
alone!” seriously said Texas Dave! “An’ it costs 
just ten thousand dollars to come in! That’s the 
blind ! ” 

“ I’ll see you to-morrow,” craftily said Hawtrey. 

“ There’s no time to lose ! ” said Texas Dave. “ I’ve 
got a letter from old Armijo to his bankers ! I’d a let 
him in first, but he’s a ‘ greaser.’ I’m dead set agin 
all Mexicans — though Don Andres ife square.” 

“ What is it? Speak! ” excitedly cried Julian, car- 
ried away by Texas Dave’s sang-froid. 

“ It’s a hidden mine!” said the stockman. “One 
I found, while out hunting some Apache Injuns that 
had run off some fat beeves! We killed a dozen of 
them ! ” calmly said D^ve, referring, ungrammatically 
but decidedly, to the “ Injuns,” not the beeves ! 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


35 


“ Gold or silver? Which?” breathlessly cried Haw- 
trey, as the stamping of feet called him back. 

“ Neither 1” calmly answered Dave. “It’s a sure 
thing ! Can’t you trust me for ten thousand dollars ? 
I never lied to ary man in my life ! ” 

“ It’s done ! ” whispered Hawtrey, a sudden wave of 
conviction sweeping him off his feet. He was in the 
presence of a manly nature which dominated his own 
crafty soul. 

Returning to the hall, Julian Hawtrey took up the 
presentment of the Assistant Manager, and, in a lucid 
speech of an hour, supported Assistant Manager Ross’s 
daring proposition. 

When the last puffing Briton filed out of the hall, a 
rising vote had supported the assessment, and a new 
member of the Executive Committee had been named. 
Julian Hawtrey, Esq., had been selected as manager, 
vice Gibson — “ bucked off, .and broke his neck square 
off ” — with a thousand pounds’ allowance for a special 
visit and a report upon the whole transaction — “ Texas 
Dave ” to be continued in his trusted place. A Special 
Report, with a final ratification meeting, was arranged 
for, and then, four hundred damp umbrellas •' mg 
opened, the British Investors scattered homeward, to 
dream of fibers of fine wool and haunches of fat mutton 
turning into gold — after these five long, weary years ! 
They had served for the forbidding and unprofitable 
Leah, and they now looked forward to the capture M 
the profitable and delightful Rachel! For, beef was 
down, and wool and mutton were the watchwords of 
longjdeferred fortune. 

Calmly philosophical as to others’ interests, Captain 
Julian Hawtrey was now most keenly alive to his own ! 
He had recouped in twenty “ turns,” and in salary, his 
own small “ paper ” investment in the patriarchal 
herds of the company. But, the mine whetted his 
curiosity! 

And so, he did not lose Texas Dave a moment from 
“ earshot ” until they departed together, with an agree- 
ment to meet the new Executive Committee for funds 
and orders in a week. 

The staid elegance of the United Service Club would 
be terrifying to Texas Dave, and so Julian decided to 


36 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


dine his Fidus Achates at the Charing Cross Hotel, 
and spend the evening with the Texan at his own 
rooms in the modest Princess’ Hotel on the Strand. 

“ I’ve got the stuff there,” seriously said Dave, 
“ both in the ore and in the metal, to show you. And, 
I took up and paid for the whole section, a mile square, 
around the mine ! I got a fellow secretly made Dep- 
uty United States Surveyor for that. I kep’ him drunk 
all the way going out, and he was ‘ blind-full ’ all the 
way back ! Thar’s dead loads of water, an’ heavy pine 
timber to make charcoal for fifty years ! I kin get the 
Navajo and Jicarilla Apache Injuns — all you want — 
to work them, for five dollars a month an’ their 
grub! ” 

“ So, the title is secure ! ” cried the overjoyed Haw- 
trey. 

“Yes, Sir-ee!” frankly answered Texas Dave. 
“ I’ve got a chap camping on it now, with two friendly 
Injuns — he’s the brother of the girl that I’m goin’ to 
marry ! That’s what I want the ten thousand dollars 
for! ” said Dave. “ I’ll put a bunch of sheep in them 
mountains, and then be a rich man in ten years ! So, 
I’ll get married and settle down at Coyote, while you 
can run this mine ! ” 

In vain, throughout the long dinner at the stately 
Charing Cross Hotel, did Julian try to get Amontil- 
lado or the sparkling “ fizz ” across the Texan’s thin, 
resolute lips ! 

“ I’m on business, Cunnel,” he said, “ an’ drinkin' 
is only for politicians, an’ army officers, an’ fancy men ! 
It makes a thick head, an’ a quarrelsome tongue ! ” 

In the half an hour following the superb repast, 
while Hawtrey smoked his digestive cigar, he pon- 
dered over the rashness of engaging a quarter of his 
Parisian legacy in this wild story of a hidden mine ! 
“ If there should be anything in this cock and bull 
story,” mused Julian, “ and this man is absolutely 
truthful, I might have use for this new-found brother 
of mine over the Channel ! Monsieur Raoul Hawtrey 
seems to be an expert mining engineer ; he has his own 
windfall to invest, and, he is footloose! I think that 
I’ll just ‘ tole ’ Texas Dave over to Paris — story, 
samples, and all ! And, that will keep him away from 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


Senor Andres Armijo’s bankers here! At any rate, I 
can easily recoup myself for the trip from the com 
pany's resources ! For, these stockholders are fat 
enough sheep still to be sheared a little closer ! And — 
if there really is a mine — Raoul may be of use ! Can 1 
trust him ? ” 

The London aristocrat smiled, in pitying apprehen- 
sion of Texas Dave’s possible fate in Paris, when the 
plainsman startled him by saying • “ See here, Cun- 
nel, your ladies are right sociable here in London. 
Here’s a half a dozen have nodded and smiled to me, 
and yet, I don’t know a single soul in London! ” 

Whereat Hawtrey piloted the innocent cowboy out 
of the evening crowd of anonymas, and followed him 
into his own modest chamber in the Princess’s. 

It was piled high with strange gear and luggage, and 
several heavy-looking boxes ! 

“ That’s not all my own plunder ! ” said the free- 
hearted Texan ! “ I brought Major Gibson’s stuff 

home to his friends ! Yes, Sir ! Thar’s the very same 
smooth English saddle he was bucked off from — but 
here, Cunnel, in these boxes, is the real stuff — a for- 
tune — for you and me ! ” 

The vaquero kicked two or three heavy cases. 

“ Tell me now ! ” cried the eager Hawtrey. 

“ You’re in this for ten thousand dollars to start, and 
we go in half an’ half alike ! ” said Dave. 

“ Yes ! ” firmly said Julian, led on by an uncontroll- 
able faith in the man’s honesty. “ 111 give you the cash 
in Paris ! We’ll go over there to-morrow night ! ” he 
said, slowly, bethinking himself of Raoul’s telegram, 
just • received : “ Arrived. Waiting at Notary’s for 

you.” 

“Shake, honest Injun!” solemnly said the Texan, 
putting out a bronzed hand. 

Julian accepted the simple ratification of the plains- 
maq’s simple frontier code. 

‘ It’s copper,” said Texas Dave. “ I’ve got an inex- 
haustible mine of it in the Painted Mountains, in the 
Hermosa Range. The stuff was so heavy, I guessed 
first that it was silver, but I tried seven lots of two 
hundred pounds each, under a three days’ fire of fat 
pine knots ! An’ it runs fifty pounds to the two hun- 


38 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


dred, in rough, lump copper! An’ the matte is worth 
eighteen cents a pound at the station. I had the metal 
assayed — an’ there’s big silver in it, besides ! ” 

Julian Hawtrey panted in eagerness till the burly 
hotel porter broke open the cases which were dragged 
out from under the gear of the late Major Gibson. 

“ Thar you are,” triumphantly cried Dave. “ Thar’s 
vour ore — all even grade, the whole outfit — and thar’s- 
your real stuff — just the red metal ! ” 

“ Is there much of this? ” cried Julian. 

“ A derned big mountain to begin on,” calmly an- 
swered Dave. “ Thar’s the lode, six or eight feet 
thick, and it’s open for a quarter of a mile! I reckon 
thar’s a hundred thousand tons in sight! ” 

Julian affected to recover his lost sang-froid. 

He said, patronizingly : “ I’ll examine all this to- 

morrow morning ! And we’ll take a fair case of each 
over with us ! To-morrow night we will go over to 
Paris, and I will have a man there who is up to all this 
thing.” 

“ I hain’t exaggerated ! ” said Texas Dave, in a mod- 
est triumph ! “ Thar’s all the money we will ever need 

there, just waiting for us ; an’ the title is safe in the 
First National Bank of Santa Fe! It’s a whack! ” 

By which obscure expression the vaquero indicated 
his idea that the “ trade ” was a “ fait accompli.” 

It was late before the cautious Englishman left the 
plainsman to his unruffled slumbers. 

In the three hours of their long conference, Julian 
Hawtrey learned to admire the concise, manly v gor of 
the vaquero’s views. 

“ Texas Dave ” was a marked exemplar of those self- 
contained Western centaurs who know a few things 
very well. 

The simple lore of the stockman, the unerring self- 
confidence of the prairie rover, the practiced arts of the 
observant scout, with the native energy of his charac- 
ter, made up a picturesque individuality tempered with 
the strong religious flavor which characterizes the bor- 
der state Southrons. 

From “ St. Joe ” to Salt Lake, from Galveston to El 
Paso, from Albuquercue to San D'ego, “ Texas Dave ” 
was known rs r. “ man Pc to ” ! 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


39 


“ I must not let these London fellows get hold of my 
rough diamond ! ” mused Hawtrey ; and so, under the 
pretense of removing the dead “ Major Gibson's stuff,” 
Julian arranged to send his man “ Soames ” down at 
breakfast-time to remain with Dave Ross until Haw- 
trey would join him for a private conference “ on ways 
and means,” with the new Managing Committee of the 
Cattle Company. 

“ I’ll meet him here at eight, Cunnel,” said Dave, 
“ but I’m out at ‘ sun up ’ and knock about the streets 
a bit. Why, dern my buttons, a gang of Comanches 
would raid your big encampment here before you wake 
any morning. Thar’s nobody stirring till about nine 
o’clock. Regular prairie dogs for sleeping.” 

With a last “ shake hands ” they parted for the 
night, Hawtrey feeling his game secure as he was rat- 
tled away to his chambers. “ I’ll get him over the 
Channel to-morrow evening. In Paris, ‘ Texas Dave ’ 
will be handicapped bv a strange language,” mused Ju- 
lian, “ and, when I pry him the money — if my French 
brother approves — I c~n quickly have him tied up in a 
contract at the American Consulate General. 

“ I wonder what strange fate is leading me out into 
those Western wilds!” mused Julian, as Soames 
opened the door of his cozy lodgings — a permanent 
pied a terre, known to many of the artistic set, as well 
as certain fair ones who drifted noiselessly up and 
down the stair. 

“ Parcel for you, Sir,” soberly said Soames. “ Just 
arrived — compliments of Sir Aubrey Hawtrey.” 

“ The drunken beggar is a man of his word," 
grumbled Julian, “ although he is a heartless human 
snake.” 

The acute clubman well knew why his kinsman had 
hastened to deliver the mysterious picture, for he could 
easily recognize the character of the sealed package de- 
posited on his table. 

“ Sir Aubrey does not wish me to fall foul of old 
Wilkinson and cross-question him, and so rattle up the 
family skeletons ! That is why he has been so prompt ! 
But, my dear boy, you do not know me ! ” cynically 
soliloquized the crafty Julian. “ I have too much pride 
to stoop ‘to your kitchen councils ! And, if I ever cross 


40 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


the lodge gates of Combermere, it will be as Sir Julian 
— for this little, puny beggar can’t last long ! Bac- 
carat, beauty, and absinthe will soon do for him ! I 
wish to heaven that some Parisian ‘ rodeur ’ would 
chuck him in the Seine ! ” 

The envious heir-presumptive tossed away a half- 
dozen letters. “ Duns,” he growled, “ or, ‘ dispatches 
from the Court of Venus! ’ ” 

• It was true that several anxious-eyed fair ones had 
already noted, from Soames’s rehabilitation of the long- 
deserted rooms, that 

“ The Sultan Shah Jehan 
Was, once more, in his palace at Ispahan,” 
and so, had showered in these premonitions of their 
impending descent upon the slv bachelor, who “ moved 
in a mysterious way, his wonders to perform ” ! 

“ There,” grimly said Julian, when alone, “ lies the 
whole secret of the kinsmen’s quarrel — this faded pic- 
ture of a beauty long fled ! But for my father’s fool- 
ish foreign marriage — but for his crossing old Sir Ev- 
erard in love, and offering her marriage in place of the 
richer man’s jewels — Reginald Hawtrey would have 
brought Combermere and the title into our branch of 
the family ! And, I will have them back, by fair means 
or foul, if I can achieve it ; if only to revenge myself on 
this French interloper who balked the fair fortunes of 
my old soldier father ! And yet, Aubrey spoke of but 
one child ; the quarrel probably began with the advent 
of the other chap ! ” 

With a deft care, the moody speculator opened the 
case. / 

A cold egoist, he stood, spellbound, before the 
beauty of the revealed face ! 

“ La Mysterieuse ! ” he murmured, seeing, for the 
first time, the face of the woman to whom he owed his 
life ! She was surely beautiful enough to set those 
worldly men at odds ! 

“ That’s true ; and, damn it, it’s easy to see where 
my French-bred brother gets his good looks ! He 
shall not see this — until he has told me her whole 
story ! The quarrel — there must have been some other 
man mixed up in it ! ” 

All unmoved, the callous-hearted son gazed upon 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


4 1 


that queenly face ; the noble head accentuated by a 
gray background ; the exquisite shoulders covered by 
a mantle which suggested some favorite character. 

There was neither jewel nor ornament, nothing to 
heighten the thrilling beauty which had been a cause 
of the deadly quarrel a long generation before. 

And, keenly conscious of his brother’s handsome ex- 
terior, Julian felt a dumb hatred growing up for the 
man now waiting for him across the silver streak. 

“ A bon chat, bon rat! ” he murmured. “ I will 
make use of my Gallic brother ! He shall be my step- 
ping-stone to fortune ! ” 

Locking away the half-size oval in an old cabinet — 
proof even against even the sly Soames — Julian lay 
down to dream of strange happenings which should 
bear him on to be the head of the ancient house. 

With a quick decision, he had wired the news of his 
coming to Raoul at Paris, and had . bidden Soames 
pack his luggage for a three days’ stay. “ I shall leave 
you here, Soames,” remarked the master. “ I am tak- 
ing only a flying trip to Paris.” 

“ Damn his stinginess,” grunted Soames. “ I’ll 
get even with him yet ! I’m on to the whole story of 
the other fellow and his French countess ! ” 

Energetic and far-seeing, Julian Hawtrev had dis- 
patched two considerable samples of the ore to Lon- 
don metallurgists, and two samples of the copper 
matte to the best assayers, for a determination of 
percentage of their copper and stfrer, before he joined 
“ Texas Dave ” in a long discussion of the Cattle 
Company’s metamorphosis with the now jubilant Ex- 
ecutive Committee. 

The “ way out ” seemed to be clear to all now, and 
the new quest for the “ Golden Fleece ” was substan- 
tially lined out long before the two strangely assorted 
partners left for Dover. 

That night, while the plainsman writhed under the 
wild wrestling of the Channel billows, Julian walked 
the tossing deck, his mind busied with vague dreams of 
a golden future. 

There was a case of the ore and abundant samples 
of the metal with the voyagers, on board, to be sub- 
jected to the crucial Parisian tests, and, craving rank. 


42 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


family prestige, and the honors robbed from him by 
the unfortunate French beauty, Julian Hawtrey’s mind 
clung to the irritating subject of his nearness to the 
title. 

“ If I could only get the little beggar out there — 
away from civilization, out there on the plains — some- 
thing might happen to him ! ” mused the reckless man 
of the world. “ No, damn it! that might lead up to 
me ! I must look him up here in Paris ! It may be 
that he can be helped along a bit ! ” 

He knew, b’y Sir Aubrey’s P.P.C. card, that the 
sybarite who comfortably got rid of twenty thousand 
♦ a year had preceded him. 

Sly and wise in his own conceit, Julian Hawtrey 
would have shuddered had he fathomed the dark de- 
signs of the two lovers now hidden in the Hotel de 
l’Aigle at Suresnes ! 

For, Raoul Hawtrey had received the petit bleu 
from the overjoyed notary, Duprat. 

And, Laure Duvernay was learning from her raptu- 
rous lover the first lessons of how to weave her spider’s 
webs to entrap her lover’s most deadly foe. 

Raoul now had, with feverish anxiety, read his moth- 
er’s long-sealed diary. When he received the news of 
Julian’s coming, he smiled grimly. “ Je paycrai tout 
I'accompte, civec un bon inter ct! ” 


CHAPTER III. 

AT THE HOTEL MEURICE A BROTHERLY COMPACT. 

When Julian Hawtrey (an old convive), was obse- 
quiously received at the Hotel Meurice, the shades of 
evening were falling. “ Texas Dave ” had been singu- 
larly quiet during the long railway run from Calais. 
He was perfectly willing to anchor himself for the 
night at Numero 228 Rue de Rivoli. 

“ It’s a strange outfit,” he quaintly remarked. 
“ Mighty few people here seem to know how to speak 
English, an’ I don’t wonder, if that big creek is always 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


43 


bilin’ over like last night, that they don’t go over to 
London to learn.” 

And, strangely, the man whose iron thews were 
proof against a thousand miles’ horseback prairie 
jaunt, “ kinder smiled a sickly smile, an’ curled up 
on the floor, an’ the subsequent proceedin’s interested 
him no more.” 

It gave the plotting promoter a quiet evening free 
to arrange his own crafty moves. There was, first, to 
cause a private examination of the ores and metals by 
the expert, Raoul Hawtrey, before he should meet 
the plainsman on business, and then, to arrange for 
watching over the unsophisticated visitor. These 
were both intrusted to the head porter, who was an 
old servitor of Monsieur le C a pit aim Hawtrey. 

The wily Frenchman laughed as he pocketed a 
louis, with injunctions to have a discreet gar(tm 
follow on, should David Ross, of Rio Arriba County, 
New Mexico, undertake to personally exploit the 
“ snares and pitfalls ” of Paris. 

“ See that nothing happens to him, Gregoire,” 
calmly said the Englishman. “ C’cst tin philosophe sau- 
vage — au naturel! ” 

The half of the ores and metals brought over w,ere 
to be dispatched by commissionaire to the office of 
Monsieur Achille Duprat, Notary, 5 Rue Paradis. 

“ My brother, the savant, shall not meet ‘ Texas 
Dave ’ until he has given his unbiased verdict upon 
the useful * bonanza.’ From Dave’s story there is 
enough metal to furnish France for a century with 
five and ten centime pieces.” 

The selection of a secret agent to look after Sir 
Aubrey Hawtrey, and the finding of a man to 
“ shadow ” his brother Raoul, were matters to be 
arranged through a confidential legal friend, one who 
had eased off several frictional episodes of Julian’s 
wild “ salad days ” in gay Lutetia. 

But the selection of the proper French firm to assav 
the ores and metals, needed a conference with his 
leading ally in France, a burly Semitic “ finanz-baron,” 
who was a perfect Dionysius’s ear as to all happen- 
ings on the Seine. 

Julian was delighted at the telegram which awaited 


4 r 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


! im from the romantically discovered brother: “ Will 
await you at ten at the notary’s. Funds now ready 
for division.” 

“ I wonder if I can discover from this Benjamin of 
my father’s frosty old age, the secret of that quarrel 
between our parents, and the name of the man who 
came between them? For, the laws of probability 
clearly indicate a Frenchman, probably some man of 
rank and wealth ! And, with the slyness of the actress, 
whatever secrets ‘La Mysterieuse’ successfully con- 
cealed from her husband and the world, will be hidden 
from me! I will speak to this Raoul, ‘ fair and softly! ’ 
I am in his hands now; some day he may be in my 
power! And, then, he shall learn to talk! ” 

It happened, strangely, at this very time, at the 
Hotel de l’Aigle, at Suresnes, Raoul was gazing 
fondly into Laure Duvernay’s eyes. “ Trust to me, 
ma mignonnc! ” the dark lover whispered. “ I have 
learned all the lessons of the Orient! Mon frere 
Julian shall make the game, and, I only follow on ! ” 

It was easy in the morning for Julian Hawtrey to 
send the unsuspicious plainsman around Paris, on a 
“ personally conducted ” forty-franc “ tour,” with a 
valet de place to “ tow him homeward.” 

“ You see,” remarked Julian, “ we must be back in 
London in a week, to catch our Liverpool express 
boat! I will have the best assayers at work at our 
ores long before you return. To-morrow our money 
business can be arranged, and, then, I will bring you, 
face to face, with the best scientists. Our London re- 
ports will be all ready on our return.” 

Hawtrey felt ashamed of the manly confidence of 
the vaquero. “ Fire away, pardner,” he simply said. 
“ What you do is O. K. You are on your own range! 
I leave all to you ! When we strike the “ Painted 
Mountains,” it’s my turn to take the head of the 
column! ” 

“Child in faith; man in heart,” murmured the 
shamefaced promoter. 

Monsieur le Capitaine Julian Hawtrey was the very 
pink of London Regent-Street perfection as he en- 
tered the modest office of Monsieur Achille Duprat. 
the next morning, precisely at ten. 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


45 


There was nothing portentous in the notary’s 'den 
save an exaggerated, shiny brass plate, on the door, 
and huge stacks of green cartons filled with the obso- 
lete papers of clients, dead and gone. 

A frown hovered over Hawtrey’s usually unruffled 
face. For already he had the report that Sir Aubrey 
Hawtrey was not to be flushed in any of his “ usual 
haunts.” 

In fact, the banker of the blase young baronet 
would only admit that Sir Aubrey had “ arrived in 
Paris ” for a serious medical conference, a period of 
repose in a “ clinique,” and that his address was 
denied to all. 

“ I wish that he was in the permanent blessed re- 
pose of Pere la Chaise,” mused Julian, rising and 
greeting Raoul, now a boulevardier of the most ex- 
quisitely raffine costume. 

The gray-haired old notary, with a Hugo-like beard 
and mustache of snow, gazed politely through the lu- 
nettes at the different appearing brothers. 

With lightning wit, Julian had noted the e^sy entree 
from the notary’s family rooms, and the ill-concealed 
friendly intimacy of the two! 

“Liar!” bitterly thought Julian. “They are the 
oldest chums; it’s easy enough to see that! ” 

But, the strident voice of the old man cut off these, 
speculations. Flourishing a red silk bandanna, Mon- 
sieur Achille Duprat blew his nose like a cavalry 
clarion. 

“ Messieurs! ” he began, in the formal French ad- 
dress of the theater, the stage, the duel, wedding, 
funeral, and the law! 

The shock-headed clerk, who was lazily engrossing 
documents with a yellow eoose quill, listened, as a 
perfunctorv witness, while Monsieur Duprat read cer- 
tain actes de sommation, and then handed each heir a 
bundle of neatlv made out papers. 

Continuing his reading, Julian learned from the old 
man’s verbiage that two hundred and fortv thousand 
francs — or comptant — now awaited him at the Banque 
de France, upon due proof of legitimacy, and his legal 
identification. 


4 6 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


“ These funds are derived from a trust founded by 
Monseieur le General Reginald Hawtrey, in favor of 
his wife, nee Aglae Madeleine de Montbrun, and the 
lawful heirs of the marriage then existing.” 

Sly as a fox, Julian betrayed no emotion as he 
learned, for the first time, the name of the mother 
whose very memory was a blank.' 

“ Good old name,” he murmured, as he extended 
his personal papers of legitimation, passport, and per- 
sonal description, all attested by the Chancellor of the 
French Embassy in London. 

“ Parfaitemcnt cn regie,” bowed the old man, push- 
ing back his gold-rimmed spectacles. “ And I have the 
honor to present the etat de service, Poly technique 
diplomc, and dossier de bapteme et confirmation, of 
Monsieur Raoul Hawtrey, duly attested by the First 
Secretary of the English Embassy.” 

With a careless nod, Julian turned to Raoul, “ I nat- 
urally accept these proceedings as all in good faith, 
and shall only ask my banker to have his lawyer 
glance over them, as I intend soon to leave for 
America!*’ 

“ Then, Messieurs,” cried Achille Duprat, “ if there 
are no further questions to ask, I will accompany you 
now to the Banque de France, where the Compte- 
Rendu of the Trust, and your cheques will be handed 
to you, in mv presence, on your both signing the final 
papers there! ” 

“ Willingly ! ” smiled Raoul, “ on one sole condition 
— that we return here and breakfast at the Faisan 
d’Or, one of the few still existing haunts of the old 
gourmets of Paris.” 

“ Precisely! ” agreed Julian, “ provided that we 
share the expense, you and I, and give our friend, the 
Notary, carte blanche.” 

A voiture — sacred to weddings and great ceie- 
monies — was soon at the door. and. on the way to the 
Rue de la Vrilliere, the three lightly bandied the per- 
siflage of the day, for Julian was a boulevardier 
qnand mfme. 

“ Arcades ambo! ” slyly decided Julian, for he 
quickly saw that his own complaisance had not de- 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 47 

ceived the others. “They are both keenly watching 
me! ” he reflected. 

And then he gravely opened the matter of the 
assays. “ I have a little professional affair to submit 
to you,” he remarked to Raoul, “ and it was for that 
reason that I sent the cases to Monsieur Duprat’s 
office, which you saw before his door. 

“ I am thinking of some future business operations 
in mining which may take me to the southern spurs of 
the Rocky Mountains. But, the breakfast first, and 
then, you shall dine with me at Meurice’s, for I must 
be on the Atlantic in a week! ” 

“ Volontiers! ” gayly cried Julian. “I am glad to 
find a client in my brother, and I have the leisure now, 
as I am now a general without an army, a ‘ soldier 
detached’; I am as free to go to Kamchatka as 
to Ceylon ! I have nothing to tie me down.” 

“ And, your headquarters? ” listlessly asked Julian, 
secretly anxious. 

“Oh! here with Monsieur Duprat,” hastily said 
Raoul. “ I am staying with an old college comrade, 
who lives near Charenton, with a widowed mother.” 

Julian bowed politely, and yet, he fancied that he 
had been given a false clew. The conjecture was cor- 
rect, as all of the width of Paris lay between Char- 
enton and the little hidden love-nest, down at leafy 
Suresnes. 

The little comedy played itself out, with no break, 
and but one slight interruption occurred, after the 
two young men had received their comfortable 
cheques, and the old notary had, with much gravity of 
ceremony, guided them through a maze of signatures. 

Julian’s good humor was marked, as his windfall 
amounted to nearly nine thousand pounds, instead of 
eight. 

“ It is singular,” he remarked, abruptly, as they left 
the Banque, “ that there were no personal archives 
left by our mother?” 

The carriage was on its way back to the Faisan 
d’Or, and, not even the swaying of the vehicle could 
account for the sudden color on Maitre Duprat’s 
cheeks. 

“ You ignore our peculiar French customs, Mon- 


48 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


sieur,” quickly said the Notary, while a blank look of 
astonishment settled upon Raoul’s mobile face. 

“ I am a duly deputized notary of the Banque de 
France. The personal property of a decedent is sold 
to cover expenses, etc. I believe that Madame Haw- 
trey died in a religious seclusion in the south of 
France. And you were both absent; in fact, the 
Haute Police Directoire alone traced out your ad- 
dress, Monsieur Julian, through the English Ambas- 
sador. Any proper legal inquiry as to these matters 
may be addressed through your Ambassador.” 

Julian bowed formally, as Raoul, lifting his head, 
said suddenly, “ I had hoped for family news from 
you, mon frere, for I am ignorant, in fact, of even the 
main events of the married life of our parents! And 
so you have nothing to tell me? ” 

“ We will speak later! ” gloomily replied Julian, as 
they drew up at the restaurant. 

“ See here,” briskly said the young Englishman. 
“ Let us leave Monsieur Duprat to order the repast! 
Walk over to the office with me!'” 

The notary’s domicile was but a few yards away. 
Once there, Julian, with the help of the office-boy, 
quickly broken open the cases. 

“ Here,” he said, with kindling eyes, “ is something 
more practical than diving into the unhappy married 
life of our ill-assorted parents! I fancy it is only an 
unhappy mystery, one buried with them. Can you 
tell me what that ore is? ” 

Raoul pounced eagerly upon the opened ore cases, 
and then, for five minutes, Julian watched the excited 
scientist eagerly, his own foot resting on the un- 
opened case containing the smelted copper matte. 

“ Where did you get this? Have you much of it? ” 
cried Raoul, with sparkling eyes. 

“That’s another story!” coolly answered Julian. 
“ What is it? ” 

“ This is my special field! ” joyously exclaimed the 
ardent young -man. “I bought these ores in Spain 
and Germany, for a year, for a rich Hebrew syndi- 
cate! It all depends upon the amount which you can 
control of this! ” 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


49 


“What is it?” demanded Julian, delighted in his 
complete mastery of the situation. 

“ This is a magnificent series of samplers of purple 
copper ore, sometimes called variegated copper ore, 
or Bornite,” dogmatically replied the young engineer. 

“ The richest sample that I ever saw. I should say, 
by the weight, giving at least twenty-five per cent, of 
pure copper. Probably,” he concluded, with em- 
phasis, “ there is silver in combination! The man 
who has a reachable mine of that, will be a modern 
Monte Cristo!” 

“ Let us go to our dejeuner,” calmly rejoined 
Julian, as the now happy notary appeared. Maitre 
Duprat had pouched his check for fees upon the ad- 
ministration of the trust, and his face shone as that of 
an angel, for he had ordered a dejeuner commemo- 
rative, and his little round eyes winked in anticipation 
of certain bottles of yellow seal Chambertin, which 
were now being gently warmed by le Pere Marbot, 
who had dined two generations of viveurs. 

“ Can you definitely assay the ores, and these 
metals, in two days?” said Julian, breaking open the 
box of roughly smelted copper alloy. 

“Certainly!” cried Raoul, with kindling eyes. 

“ Keep a strict -silence, then,” enjoined Julian. “ Do 
this; it may lead on to your fortune. I will be ready 
for you at the Hotel Meurice in two days, with a 
private dinner in my room! I will have a man there 
to meet you! ” 

“ It shall be my only occupation,” cried Raoul, 
“ and I will take the materials home with me. Jules 
De Laude has his private laboratory at home, at 
Charenton! ” 

Once seated at the table of the Faisan d’Or, old 
Achille Duprat forgot all but the feast, and, while he 
busied himself with the Dinde aux truffes, the huitres 
d’Ostcnd, and the sclle d’agneau, gazing lovingly on 
the liquid rubies of the priceless Burgundy. 

The brothers nimbly played with each other, as 
supple wrestlers try for a hold. It was greatlv to 
Julian’s satisfaction when the long-drawn-out feast 
ended. 

The young men had gone over much of their world 


50 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


wandering, in amity, and Julian felt a real pride in his 
veiled antagonist. 

Anxious to place his cheque at once in a place of 
safety, Julian hailed a fiacre, and noted, with a secret 
admiration, the departure of his brother Raoul in a 
heavy carriage laden with the samples. 

*' I have to go all over Paris to get my little chem- 
ical necessaries! These precious matters shall not 
leave my sight! ” was Raoul’s adieu. 

“ I’ll never be able to track this alien-hearted 
brother,” mused Julian, gazing back quizzically at the 
reddened face of Maitre Duprat, now converted into a 
human wine vat. ’ 

“ Old Duprat is as close as an oyster; he isdoyal to 
this sly devil Raoul, and they are both at home here! 
Duprat evidently took a sudden alarm at my inquiries, 
and I shall never learn from them the history of ‘ La 
Mysterieuse.’ Cui bono? Both my father and the 
woman whom he loved or hated are on the farther 
shore, now! 

“ If I find Raoul’s assays confirmed, if his mining 
credentials are undoubted, I may tie him up, out there 
in the Painted Mountains, while - 1 ‘help along’ Sir 
Aubrey on his voyage to the echoless shore. Devil 
take him! With a lucky money strike here, with the 
title, I might even see the old name raised into the 
peerage! And so, Monsieur Raoul, I’ll speak you fair 
and softly, and let you fall into my trap.” 

One thing had fixed itself on Julian’s mind as a sine 
qua non. “ There must be no chumming between 
‘ Texas Dave ’ and Raoul! I’ll not leave the vaquero 
after they meet! I’ll whip him over to London! Raoul 
shall join us at Liverpool, without an idea of where we 
go! And, so, I shall have the first chance at these 
possible millions. No one shall delve under me in 
this. It’s the one chance to repair my fortunes.” 

A man of action. Julian Hawtrey had dispatched the 
remaining ore and sample metals, through his banker, 
for immediate assay bv a leading firm of Paris metal- 
lurgical experts, long before his brother was safely 
ensconced in a technical laboratory, where he pro- 
posed to do his private work. 

“ Send the assays, sealed, to me, to London, at your 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


51 


English agency, forthwith,” said Julian to his banker, 
smiling, as he pocketed London sight exchange for 
eight thousand, nine hundred pounds. 

“ If you have anything to exploit, later, please con- 
sider our great facilities ! ” said the man of money. 

“ Thank you! ” loftily answered the Copper King in 
embryo. “ I can command ample English capital. 
But, bid them keep all the unused material here, as 
an evidence of the correctness of the assays. Let all 
be sealed up in vour care.” 

Seated at ease, in his private room at the Meurice, 
that very evening, Julian watched “ Texas Dave ” cut- 
ting a clean swath through a French dinner. 

The child of nature was duly impressed with the 
magnificence of Paris, and he audibly regretted that 
the South had, as yet, not been able to house General 
Robert E. Lee’s sacred ashes as grandly as those of 
the penniless Corsican Lieutenant of Artillery, the 
mailed despot who shook every throne in Europe! 

The English speculator, waked from dreams of 
future wealth, was suddenly struck by the queer des- 
tiny which had brought Sir Aubrey and the two heirs 
of his title to Paris, all busy in secret games of cross- 
purposes. 

“ Devil take Aubrey ! ” angrily ejaculated Julian. 
“ He is as foxy a customer as my pseudo-brother! ” 

The secret reports of the head porter proved that 
no one could smoke out the aristocratic invalid. 

“ I think I’ve done the whole burg in good shape, 
thanks to you,” remarked “ Texas Dave.” when the 
^we-inspiring steward had departed. “ I’m ready for 
business now! ” 

“ So am I,” quietly rejoined Julian. “ To-morrow 
we will go down to the American Consulate-General, 
execute our partnership, and I’ll give you your 
monev. The assays will be done in two days, and so 
we will leave on the night boat, dav after to-morrow.” 

“ All right, Cunnel,” rejoined Dave. “ You must 
get a London frontier outfit, too, for our trip will be 
a rough one, and we ought to hustle back to see Don 
Andres, and get to our mine before the stormy season 
sets in. Unless you know something about mining, 
you ought to take a practical man out with you.” 


52 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


A new idea flashed over Julian’s crafty mind. He 
would use the Texan to spy upon his brother, and the 
brother to watch his simple-minded partner. 

“ I think that I can get a good man, here,” said 
Julian, veiling his schemes behind his unruffled coun- 
tenance. ' . 

“ That’s right! ” heartily said Ross, “ and you can 
take his expenses out of the first profits of the mine. 
There is no man in New Mexico, who is up to these 
mining deals. He will need an outfit, too! We must 
make a secret and a flying trip! I don’t want to raise 
any local excitement there — until we have corralled all 
the wood and water for five miles around our mine. I 
can get a few of our men to take the land up and 
transfer it to us, and my deputy-surveyor will keep all 
the locations secret.” 

It was midnight before the two strangely assorted 
partners had ceased their castle building, not in Spain, 
but in the far wind-swept reaches of the Hermosa 
Range. 

“ Simple, sincere, straightforward, with a wonderful 
fund of ‘ horse sense ’ — this product of the Texas 
prairies should be easy to handle,” thought Julian, as 
he threw himself down to sleep ; “ but, Monsieur mon 
frere, c’est bien autre chose! And you, Monsieur , 
Raoul, I shall handle with gloves, both of velvet and 
steel.” 

Wise in his own conceit, the crafty Julian was being 
secretly outwitted, for, over a merry supper at the 
Hotel - de l’Aigle, Raoul was now mentally laying 
snares for the man who had divided Aglae de Mont- 
brun’s legacy. 

At his side, Laure Duvernay queened it over the 
dainty supper commemorative of the golden windfall. 
The saucy beauty was already busied in her schemes 
to draw a trickling stream of golden revenue from the 
watchful Abbas Pasha and the enamored Veronville. 

The beauty pouted at Raoul’s preoccupation. “ I 
must be an exile for two days,” he whispered, pledg- 
ing her bright eyes in the goblet she had kissed. 

“ There is a strange destiny which sweeps me nearer 
to this strange brother Julian, every day! I may go 
over to England with him! ” 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


53 


“ And I? ” anxiously cried Laure. 

“You can play at hide and seek with the spies of 
your fatuous Pasha and that fool Veronvilje,” said her 
lover. “ You must carry out your social deception 
as to Doctor Rich'epin. A graceful invalid, a suf- 
ferer from heart disease! ” 

Laure laid a soft hand on her lover’s lips. “ Tais- 
toi! ” she cried. “ Tell me, is there a great milord in 
your strange family? 

“ To-day, at Richepin’s, making my arrangements 
for consultation, there comes a fade young Anglais, 
who at once tries to flirt with me! Richepin bows 
before him ; he is domicile with the great doctor. 

“ And I have the little wretch’s card, too! Riche- 
pin’s dame d'attentc slyly gave it to me, with a few 
banal words, when he left the consulting-room. -I was 
tres chic, you will agree! ” 

Laure laughed as she -drew the card from her 
bosom. Raoul eagerly seized it, reading the engraved 
W rds. 

“ This is the very devil’s luck! ” he cried. “ Only this 
great grenadier, Julian, stands between me and this 
title now. Sir Aubrey Hawtrey, of Combermere, 
Wessexsbire, has five hundred thousand francs a year 
in clear land! ” 

“ Voila mon pigeon! ’•’ gayly cried the freelance of 
fortune. 

“ And, he has not a year to live ! ” sighed Laure. 

“What say you?” demanded Raoul, seizing her 
wrists in his excitement. 

“ The dame d’attente told me,” quickly answered 
the frightened woman. “ II est ‘ vieux marcheur,’ and 
broken down with what you call, the * high life ’ ! ” 

Raoul Hawtrey’s face darkened! The burning pages 
of Aglae de Montbrun’s diary returned to his excited 
mind. “ Nom dc Dieu!” he cried. “You must cap- 
tivate that man! The prettiest toilette of Worth shall 
reward you ! ” 

“Explain!” eagerly cried the sinuous Laure. 

“ Wait for a few days,” hastily cried her lover. 
“ Then, I will tell you all, but, cleave to him; let him 
go on and fool himself — commc bien dcs autre's! He 
shall be a leading card in our game of fortune! But, 


54 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


on your life, never a word of me to him, or of my 
stranger brother! We are hereditary enemies, and 
you shall aid me, perhaps, to pay off the debt of an 
outraged Frenchwoman! Duprat has slyly obtained 
the whole family history! While I am busied in these 
• ? s'! vs, watch la maison Richepin, and, let him follow 
on ! ” 

The stars swept on over sleeping Paris, and yet 
the lovers tarried over the silver foaming wine, linked 
in the passionate abandon of the passing hour so 
strangely sweet. For to them, had not yet come the 
dull reflex tide of satiety, and their mad love was wax- 
ing to its zenith ! 

That night, before he slept, Raoul Hawtrey swore 
again his secret oath of vengeance. “ Let him beware 
— this son of his father! He draws me on to the goal 
that I seek ! They shall pay for the past, to the very 
last item of that record of misery! ” 

It was a singular coterie which sat around Julian 
Hawtrev’s hospitable table at the Hotel Meurice, two 
days later. 

A cloud of cigarette smoke hid the too expressive 
face of the man who hac 1 . been introduced to “ Texas 
Dave ” as Monsieur Raoul Montbrun. 

With a merry laugh, Raoul compromised with the 
plainsman, who, after some trouble, had memorized 
the phrase “ Mounseer Ray owl de Mount Brown! ” 

“ Now, my dear boy, just call me ‘ Brown,’ for 
short, if I go to Texas with you! It will save trouble,” 
cried the Frenchman, speaking in fluent English. 

Raoul recognized the artful craft of his elder 
brother, who had not left him alone for a moment with 
the vaquero. 

“ You see, we must disguise our relationship,” 
Julian had artfully dictated. “ This is too large a 
proposition for me to handle alone. If your assays 
conform to others, if you think there is really a mine, 
I will make you a proposition to take a run over with 
us! We must be off for London to-night, to catch 
the Liverpool steamer next Saturday. You can send 
me to-morrow all your measures, and Mr. Ross will 
have your prairie outfit got up with ours! All that 
you have to do is to catch the ‘ Lucania ’ at Liverpool, 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


55 


next Saturday! I’ll have your ticket, if you telegraph 
me to the United Service Club.” 

“ Then, you will not need me in London, at 
present,” said Raoul, in this preliminary half an hour 
before the dinner. 

“ No; by no means! ” said Julian, hastily. “ There 
is no ‘brotherhood ’ in business! If I organize a com- 
pany in London, later, I may play you off as ‘ an ex- 
perienced French scientist’ on our promoters! You 
may be a drawing card, under your mother’s name! ” 

“ Our mother’s name! ” quietly remarked Raoul. 

“ Pardon! ” gravely rejoined Julian. “ And you can 
see how valuable you will be, out there, in being able 
to watch Ross, these plainsmen, and the ‘ whole out- 
fit,’ as they say! If you were known as my kinsman, 
of course they would all flatter and hoodwink you! 

“ You seem to be an agnostic as to human nature, 
Julian! ” sneered Raoul. 

“ I have found most men to be liars and thieves — 
only varying in the modern veneer which hides our 
underlying barbarism! ” 

The simple-minded “ Texas Dave ” had also been 
coached by his crafty partner, and he only referred to 
the location of the mines as “ the mountains! ” 

A running fire of deft cross-examination led, in a 
silky tone by the Polytechnique eleve, drew out, 
during the dinner, a complete physical description of 
the lode from the frank Texan. 

“Square to my company; true to my pardner! ” 
was Dave’s motto, and he now carried a draft for over 
twenty hundred pounds sterling in his pocket, the 
exact London equivalent for ten thousand dollars. 

And so, the papers being all duly signed at the 
American Consulate-General, Julian Hawtrey was 
entitled to the very fullest disclosures. 

After the dilettante brothers had finished the cafe 
noir and the creme de Moka, there was nothing left 
for Dave to disclose. 

He marveled at the deftness with which Raoul drew 
out all the minutest features of the lonely nook in the 
“ Painted Mountains,” where the unreaped millions 
lav hidden under the spell of silence and primeval 
loneliness. 


56 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


At a privately arranged signal, Juiian finally called 
for the production of Raoul’s personal assays. “ You 
can read out the percentages and French values,” said 
the elder brother, “ and I will work them out, so that 
Mr. Ross will understand all.” 

“ I have rendered them all in the metric scales, and 
also in your own systems and values,” said the young 
engineer. “Here they are, in duplicate,” he said; 
“ sealed and certified by me.” 

With a hand trembling with eagerness, Julian 
studied the inclosure, and watched “ Texas Dave ” 
apparently puzzling over his copy. 

In five minutes, Julian triumphantly cried, “ It is 
marvelous!' Here is the mean of three London 
assays, and a series of working outside Parisian as- 
says. The general consensus is, ‘ A fine variety of 
bornite and chalcopyrite, averaging twenty-three and 
nine-tenths per cent, of pure copper, with five dollars 
and sixty cents in gold,” he almost shouted, “ and nine 
and a half ounces of silver per ton! ” 

“ I feel complimented,” gayly answered Raoul, as 
his nimble fingers were busied with the pencil. " 1 
make it twenty-three per cent, copper, five dollars and 
eighty in gold, and nine and three-eighths ounces of 
silver! The ores run remarkably even! ” 

The brothers stared in a mute astonishment as 
“ Texas Dave ” threw an envelope on the table. “ You 
are mighty near what the five tons actually worked, 
in the Newark smelters, in New Jersey,” said he. “ and 
there’s the metallurgist’s cheque pinned to his return. 

I didn’t have time to wait, and so, they sent it after 
me! ” 

Julian caught his breath first. “ How did you do 
this? ” he exclaimed, with an increased respect for 
Dave’s scientific abilities. 

“Oh, dead easy!” answered the cowboy. “My 
surveyor’s mule-train packed the stuff in to Antonito 
for me, a hundred miles from Coyote. I went up 
there, barreled it, marked it, ‘ from El Paso del Norte, 
Mexico,’ and then, sent it on ahead of me to New 
York! Thar’s no humbug, for no man knew where it 
came from! ” 

“ You are a genius,” warmly cried Raoul. 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


57 


“Well!” modestly answered “Texas Dave.” “I 
knew if you did not take hold, that I must have some- 
thing to show old Don Andres Armijo’s bankers in 
London ! But, they would just go in and ‘ freeze ’ me 
out! I’m glad I’m in with a square gentleman, a man 
who would not take advantage of me! 

“ And so you can bring Mr. Mopnt Brown along; all 
he’ll real / have to do is to see that the stuff is there, 
and plan the laying opt of the works! We must grab 
all the water and timber, as I said, and begin to make 
roads and use the farthest timber for our charcoal! 
Then the roads will get better all the while, and we 
can haul both ways! They are going to run the Den- 
ver and Rio Grande Railroad in this year, and also 
locate a big army post to watch the Jicarifla 
Apaches! ” 

It was fortunate that “ Texas Dave ” expressed a 
wish to take a run down to the “ Big Store,” i. e., the 
“ Palais Royal,” to catch up a few pretties for the gal 
at home, under the guidance of the head porter. 

“ Fetch him back at eleven! ” was Julian’s stern in- 
junction. “ We can not have Mademoiselles Fifi and 
Fleurette walk off with our Copper King! We must 
take the midnight train! ” 

When the brothers were'left alone, Raoul laughed 
softly. “ Your simple-looking Texan is no fool, mon 
frerc,” he remarked. 

“ Do you see the wisdom of concealing our relation- 
ship? ” eagerly cried Julian. “ Now, I have no time to 
throw away! What think you of the venture?” 

“ It is a princely heritage,” decidedly answered 
Raoul, “ if it is there! That is all! To certify to its 
existence is my future task! And, now, what do you 
offer me?” 

Julian flushed slightly. “Let us see! I’ll be fair 
and frank! Five hundred pounds honorarium, all 
your expenses, and a tenth of my half — if you go in as 
our scientific superintendent!” 

“ There’s my hand on it!, I will be with you to the 
death!” cried Raoul, strangely starting back as he 
realized that it was the “ auri sacra fames ” which had 
brought their palms together for the first time. 

“ Of course,” good-humoredly said Julian. “ I pro- 


58 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


vide all your outfit, clothes, weapons, personal sup- 
plies and all.” 

“ There’s but ohe thing, Julian,” firmly demanded 
the younger brother. “ I must now have the post- 
office address, to have my passport and mail sent on.” 

Julian penciled an address on his card, “ New Mex- 
ico Cattle Company, Coyote, Rio Arriba County, 
New Mexico.” 

“ Though our station is only a few huts and drink- 
ing hovels, there is the telegraph, with cable facilities, 
and a daily mail from Barranca, on the railroad. I’ll 
give your cheque now, if you care! ” 

“Thanks!” loftily said Raoul. “We can settle 
later! Now, you must be off. Go ahead and take my 
letter! I’ll meet you next Saturday at Liverpool, on 
the ‘ Lucania,’ telegraphing my departure from here, 
and go right on to Liverpool, ignoring London.” 

“ You’ll not fail me? ” hazarded Julian. “ Paris is 
full of soft, white bosoms, beating in generous sym- 
pathy with a handsome fellow with eight thousand 
pounds! I would have no scientist if you failed me! 
I trust none of the American pretenders — ‘ jackknife 
prospectors ’! ” 

“Bah!” laughed Raoul, catching up his hat and 
“ pardessus “ J'ai dcja passe mes bcau.x jours. I’ll 
be with you to the death; the Frou-frous can wait till 
I am worth plucking! ” 

Serene in his own conceit, Julian Hawtrey com- 
placently eyed Soames, with nimble fingers, deftly 
stripping his dressing-room. “ Have the carriage in 
readiness at half after eleven, Soames!” ordered the 
budding millionaire. 

“ Go ahead with the luggage and get a good com- 
partment! Let my carriage wait! I will ‘lasso my 
wild pardner ’ and, be oii time ! ” 

Ten minutes later, Hawtrey had paid his bill, a mas- 
terpiece of Gallic elasticity, and received his frontier 
charge in good shape from the porter. He had sud- 
denly learned that David Ross would bear consider- 
able mental scrutiny, and. as to his versatile and 
accomplished brother — there was an unknown quan- 
tity. 

“ Gapable fellow, a bit sly; oily, like the old Greek 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


59 


wrestlers. I must find out his weak points! ” mused 
the cold-hearted promoter ! “ But, here’s a golden 

harvest ahead! This cash will hold off my creditors 
for six months; the copper mine, if it shows up, will 
pay all off, and then, give me the stepping-stone to 
rank and wealth! ” 

When the bold Texan strode out of the Hotel 
Meurice, people glared at the strange intimacy of the 
London elegant with the modern Daniel Boone! But 
“ Texas Dave’s ” heart was light, as he sighed in re- 
lief, “ Thank God! I’m on my way back to Coyote! 
I’m not dead stuck on Paris; and, as for London, it's 
too foggy and wet a camp for me! I’m glad to be 
back on the hurricane deck of a broncho! ” 

“ And. the young lady? ” quizzically asked Haw- 
trev, as the carriage rolled away. 

“ I will get married the moment the mine proves to 
be a sure thing, and, then, start my big sheep ranch 1 ” 
conscientiously added the plainsman, feeling in his 
pocket for the photograph of a red-cheeked young 
lady in a gingham frock and a string of golden Mex- 
ican beads, who, he proudly announced, was “ the only 
woman in Rio Arriba County who could play the 
‘ Shower of Pearls,’ without notes, on the piano! ” 

“ You have a treasure there! ” enviously remarked 
Julian Hawtrey, as he bit off his Cabana, “ a rare 
treasure! ” 

The cynical, sneering speculator would have been 
uneasy if he had seen a beautiful face peering out of 
a closed carriage which had driven into the courtyard 
of the Hotel Meurice. 

“ Fix them both in your mind, Laure,” whispered 
Raoul, in hiding behind her. When we follow them to 
the station, you can mingle with the crowd and closely 
observe them! See them both go! And, then, we will 
have a little supper at Maxime’s.” 

An hour later, Raoul and Laure Duvernay were 
laughing over their champagne and ecrivisses on the 
dais at Maxime’s, and gaylv watching the reckless 
dancers beginning their artfully managed midnight 
saltatorial exercises. 

“ What a magnificent corbeille of Parma violets,” 
t \emarked Raoul, gazing at Laure’s bouquet. 


6o 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


“ Pray, sir, observe this exquisitely jeweled bou- 
quetiere!” proudly cried Laure. “I have not been 
idle. My fellow-sufferer,” she laughed, “ sent it to 
me to-day by the dame d’attcnte at Richepin’s. It 
seems we both have heart disease! ” she demurely 
cried! 

“ And, what said you in reply to Sir Aubrey Haw- 
trev? ” 

“ That I would dine here, alone, at seven to- 
morrow.” 

“ He said? ” demanded Raoul. 

“ That he would be my voisin ! ” nodded Laure. 

“ Then, my future is in your hands,” whispered 
Raoul. “ You must never let that man domicile him- 
self in London till I return! Smother him with all 
your fascinations! It is our fortune! ” 


CHAPTER IV. 

A LITTLE ROW AT MAXIME’S CROSS -PURPOSES. 

Some subtle spirit of unrest tormented Raoul Haw- 
trev during the night in which his crafty elder brother 
was hastening back to the now anxious London stock- 
holders of the crippled Cattle Company. He had been 
carried off his feet by the prospects of sudden wealth 
in the marvelously rich copper mine lying far over the 
sea. 

And so, without a word, he had joined his fortunes 
to those of the calm, phlegmatic elder brother whom 
he now hated with all the fierceness of his Gallic blood ! 

With soldierly promptitude, he proposed to devote 
himself, however, to arranging his simple affairs for a 
three months’ absence ; and yet, it was necessary to 
change his strategy after the campaign was on ! 

Reckless and pleasure-loving, he had drifted along 
in the Orient, easily superior to all those around him — 
save in craft and duplicity — ignorant of his family his- 
tory, and with, no ties to chain him to France. 

He had joined his fortunes with the passionate 
Laure Duvernay by the sympathy of their uncontroll- 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


6l 

able natures — by the similarity of their dependence 
upon the great of the earth. 

The beautiful decoy whom Abbas Pasha had used 
to secretly fathom all the designs of the French Am- 
bassador had been useful to Raoul to spy upon the 
same haughty Turk who was Raoul’s own wellspring 
of fortune. 

And, sheer necessity had, so far, kept them loyal to 
each other ! A single word from Raoul could betray 
Laure to Veronville, now a mighty power in Constan- 
tinople, in view of the budding Russo-Frankish alli- 
ance. 

And, the influence of Laure, whom the old Pasha 
both loved and feared, could have cast him out, as a 
broken adventurer, by merely maligning him to Abbas. 
The mysterious adventuress was, however, sure of her 
safety, for the courtly Veronville, to use her as a spy 
upon the Austrian Embassy, had given her papers, offi- 
cial protection, and his social countenance; and so, the 
grim old Abbas Pasha dared not touch a hair of that 
graceful head ! 

Too well he knew that no “ mysterious disappear- 
ance ” would suffice to explain the fresh young Hebe’s 
absence to her faded diplomatic adorer, Veronville. 

And, Laure herself, while slyly making her nest 
warm, either with French gold or Turkish guineas, had 
grown into a fierce delight in dominating Raoul Haw- 
trey, the most charming young cavalier of her shadowy 
circle ! 

For, the secrets which all had failed to surprise 
locked up in her bosom, too sternly proved to her that 
no possible stroke of fortune could bring- to her a lucky 
marriage, and consequent solidity of position. 

For, the suave, young, princely Orientals of Abbas 
Pasha’s train all knew of her double life of villainy; 
the sleek, insolent, adolescent attaches of the French 
and Austrian Legations saw the penumbra which shad- 
owed the brightness of her shining star! 

Constantinople! City of the rose, myrtle, and cy- 
press! The Countess Laure Duvernav was a “per- 
sona grata ” there, in the half light of the Sick Man’s 
tottering throne ; but, even in the summer intimacy of 
Buyukdere, where the diplomatic families gathered, the 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


oa 

haughty women of the accredited circle would coldly 
ignore the suspiciously beautiful and lonely Laure ! 

" Her title was, like the Palais. Royal jewelry, however 
tasteful and appropriate, after all, not real! 

It was as to his future relations with Laure that 
Raoul now fought with the two ruling passions which 

•r mated him — ambition and revenge! 

i : e had learned to be coldly secretive in his Russian 
wanderings, and in dangerous Asia Minor; and, be- 
yond telling Laure of his divided legacy, he had hid- 
den carefully from her all the astounding discoveries of 
his return to Paris. 

As Julian had rightfully suspected, the keen old 
Achille Duprat was Raoul’s private champion, and the 
\ i mug engineer had told none of his secrets to his 
brother, and only half of them to Laure — a fascinating 
companion, but, a dangerous confidante. 

In this sunny morning at Suresnes, after Raoul had 
arranged his role for the enmeshing of Sir Aubrey 
Hawtrey, the young man pondered on the whole situ- 
ation all the way into Paris. 

“ Five hundred pounds — my fee — with her own 
gains from Abbas’s and V eronville’s secret service, will 
keep her ‘ en reine ’ in my absence. Let her go on and 
mystify this dawdling invalid ! She can easily hasten 
the inevitable for him. But, I must think it all over ! 
First, to put all my family papers in the steel vaults 
of the Credit Lyonnais ! ” 

He might have trusted them to the devoted old Not- 
ary, “ But,” mused Raoul, “ he is old — a bon vivant! 
He may die, he might soon follow on ! They are safest 
there ! ” 

And he had resolved upon a useful role for old Du- 
prat — that of secretly watching Laure in his absence ! 
“ She may have designs of her own ! It was a woman 
who brought the bitterness into the Hawtrey line ! ” 

And, then, he reflected that Sir Aubrey Hawtrey, a 
refined voluptuary, would not be gudgeon enough to 
take Laure for an ingenue. “ Not after a tete-a-tete 
dinner at Maxiroe’s ! ” he growled. 

A disturbing fever now burned in his veins ! There 
a as a Pandora’s box left to him in the secret papers of 
his dead mother! It was the journal of “ La Myste- 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


63 


rieuse,” the history of her later life ; the hidden secret 
of a landed estate in Ardeche, a legacy of her own, a 
comfortable, snug fortune, which was to pass alone 
into the hands of him who was the only thing ever 
loved by the dead Aglae! And his mother’s married 
life called for a cold revenge ! 

It had seemed all so easy to drift into this passion- 
ate partnership with the fascinating adventuress ! And 
now, he stood at the parting of Life’s ways ! The se- 
crets of his mother’s long-guarded papers would enable 
him to assume a titular name and a rank of the greater 
nobility with the old Languedoc fief. 

And yet, he could hardly secretly enjoy this revenue 
and be free ! He dared not marry the woman whom 
■ he now feared ! ' 

Her antecedents in France would be soon searched 
out by the bitter Abbas, or the revengeful Veronville ! 
And now, but one hated life stood between him and 
the dying Aubrey Hawtrey ! It was a golden bait, 
this old English name — the broad acres — the vast 
rent-roll ! 

“ There lies my revenge ! ” he growled, “ to rob 
Julian of all this golden harvest! And, if he, this petit 
milord, dies while Julian is away out there, no one 
would know the reason if he died obscurely over here ! 
She must* never know of my hopes, my plans ! ” 

When Raoul reached the Place de la Concorde, his 
brain was darkened with dreams of a deed without a 
name ! 

His brain throbbed, the hot blood beat upon his 
temples ! 

He murmured, with parched lips : “ Dare I trust 

myself ! No one out there will know me as his brother ! 
But, I must hide all from Laure! She would be my 
tyrant for life ! ” 

The young French engineer hastened to arrange his 
few private affairs . for the expedition to that vague 
place only known to him as “ the mountains ” ! 

Some familiar devil in his heart whispered that there 
was a future danger to him in the now enforced inti- 
macy with the sinful Eve of his Ottoman paradise. 

The woman had been really necessary to him there 
in Constantinople. 


6 4 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


At once a spy and tool of Abbas Pasha, guiding his 
reckless operations with Continental financiers, Raoul 
(while in Asia Minor) could have been easily “ rubbed 
out ” in case of the cold-hearted Turk’s sudden resent- 
ment ! 

But Abbas too well knew that Laure, hot-hearted 
and a law unto herself, would make a great clamor at 
the French Embassy if Raoul, her romantic lover, 
“ disappeared.” 

And, as for his banking and engineering standing, 
le Capitaine Raoul Hawtrey was duly entered at the 
French Embassy, and possessed inviolable passports 
and papers. He was a dangerous victim to handle. 

But, Laure ’.s protection was no longer needed ! 
Raoul knew well that he would never return to the 
Orient ! “We do these things as well, only differ- 
ently, here in Paris,” smilingly reflected Raoul. “ A 
man is silently wrecked and then cast out, a human 
husk, to rot in obscurity ! They kill themselves here 
quick enough, without violence! Baccarat, absinthe, 
the women, le Sport, la Bourse, the High Life extrava- 
gance — all these things are a * continuous perform- 
ance.’ ” 

When he had “cashed in” his cheque on the Banque 
de France, he opened an account at the Credit Lyon- 
nais, and took out a letter of credit on the New York 
agency for the full amount. 

“ I have always the Chateau Verneuil property to 
fall back on,” he mused, for the vineyards at San 
Felicien, in Ardeche, would always give him an as- 
sured living — the old fief bearing the courtly title of 
“ Marquis de Verneuil ” in a special grant royal of the 
great Louis XIV. 

“ It might be useful for me sometime to dodge all 
these people,” decided Raoul, as he quickly dispatched 
a well-chosen dejeuner at the Cafe Maxime, prudently 
retaining a double table on the dais for dinner, and a 
single one in the corner. 

He sacrificed a louis to obtain the double table. 

“ Monsieur can see that I am telling him the truth,” 
said the grave steward. “ I have put off this Eng- 
lish gentleman for you ; his' servant waits even now to 
retain a double table ! ” 


• BROUGHT TO BAY. 65 

Raoul started as he noted the visiting-card of Sir 
Aubrey Hawtrey. 

Just let him have it,” hastily said Raoul. “ One 
single table for two, in the corner, will do for me, and 
a side table in that row for the lady. She will present 
this card ” — and he hastily scrawled “ de Villemont ” 
on a wine label ! 

For Laure’s coign of vantage, he had selected a neat 
half-table, partly screened by an overhanging portiere ! 

“ This fellow has evidently caught on,” he mused. 
“but»he’s a sly fish — a veritable old Boulevardier, qut 
connait bien son Paris!” 

In the 'cab, on his way to Duprat’s to remove the 
papers, he decided to mystify the old Notary. 

“ Achille drinks, and either Sir Aubrey or my dear 
brother might try to bribe him ! And who, nowadays, 
will refuse the good yellow gold ! ” 

Old Achille stared in surprise when Raoul rattled off 
his story. “ I am going over to Pennsylvania to re- 
port on the latest American steel processes for a great 
syndicate here. Register my address ‘ Care of the 
French Consul-General in New York City.’ I may 
travel there for three to six months.” 

And so, when he had recouped all the archives of 
the departed Aglae de Montbrun, Raoul verified the 
careful registration of his official New York address, 
as given by the Credit Lyonnais. 

M Your brother, ce gros Anglais ?” cunningly de- 
manded old Duprat, who hankered after another feast 
of Lucullus. 

“ Gone off yachting to Norway, thence to Iceland, 
and, apres, Dieu sait du,” laughed Raoul. “ He and 
I will never make old bones together! He is of the 
father, and I of the mother! ” 

Old Duprat was stunned bv Raoul’s executive en- 
ergy. “ Mais c’est dr ole ! Cette relation ! ” growled 
Achille. 

When the fateful diary and the last scraps of family 
papers were trebly locked in the great vaults of the 
Credit Lvonnais. Raoul merrily leaped on a steamboat 
to take his breathing spell on the river down to 
Suresnes. 


66 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


“ I am now invincible,” he mused, as he smoked his 
Syrian cigarette on the gliding steamer’s deck. 

“Julian knows nothing of the past — and he never 
shall ! The Credit Lyonnais is a safe defense. Noth- 
ing can be traced there from the Banque de France! 
My funds are all now available in New York. The 
Credit Lyonnais will dispatch my passport to New 
York City to their agency, in my true name, and the 
legal status of Raoul Iiawtrey. ‘ Monsieur de Mount 
Brown ’ will do for Texas and New Mexico. They 
bring my outfit from London. Old Achille knows not 
whither I go ! I must tell Laure the same story — the 
witch will perhaps look him up. I can write her from 
New York that Julian has gone away to the cattle 
country, and that I have taken a ‘ scientific quest,’ 
which I concealed here ! ” 

Before the swift steamer had left Sevres behind, 
Raoul decided to leave Sir Aubrey in Laure’s hands, 
without “ special orders.” 

“ She will pillage him — gold, jewels, dress — all the 
4 spolia opima ’ of womanhood will fall her way! Al- 
lons! Laissons faire! She will send him to the devil 
quick enough ! ” 

When the steamer swung up to the great stone 
bridge at Suresnes, Raoul Hawtrev had worked up a 
sullen ferocity against his cool-mannered brother 
Julian. 

“ He it was who proposed me to go out, as an un- 
known ! He would use me as a mere cat’s-paw in this 
game for millions ! Who knows what designs may 
lurk in his mind? Has he fallen heir to his cold- 
hearted father’s diary — the man who broke my proud 
mother’s heart? Ah ! I will be the first in this game 
of wits ! He shall pay all the debts of the past !.” 

Raoul was astonished at the radiance of Madame la 
Comtesse Laure Duvernay on his arrival ! A fierce 
pride of life glowed in her provokingly insolent beauty ! 
She was already prepared for her departure to Paris. 

“ All must happen , ' par hazard / ” cried Laure, 
throwing her arms around Raoul’s neck. 

“Tenez! We must understand each other! This 
great Milord is no * ten-pound tourist ’ ! Your pres- 
ence might frighten him off ! ” 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


67 


And then, the sagacious Raoul explained his selec- 
tion of the tables', giving to his fair companion the 
duplicate card for the Maitre de Hotel. 

“ I will not be far off, and I will be, for to-night, 
Monsieur Paul de Villemont, a friend of your late 
husband, a litterateur and a traveler, about to leave 
France.” 

While they leisurely drove into Paris, Raoul de- 
scribed all the glories of Combermere, Sir Aubrey’s 
vast possessions, and his unfailing wealth. 

“ Your game of cross-purposes with Abbas Pasha 
and the Marquis de Veronville will, of course, detain 
you here,” craftily 'planned Raoul. “Keep this rich 
milord dangling after you here in Paris! Do not 
trust yourself in England with him! You would be 
soon forced into the shadow of the declassee ! Here, on 
your own ground, you can strip him at leisure! But, 
if you would win my love forever, help him along a 
grand vitesse to Pere la Chaise ! ” 

There was an ominous silence until Laure, her voice 
husky with some strange emotion, whispered : “ Raoul ! 
If this man should die, the title would go to your 
strange brother, and then he also gets the property? ” 

“ Yes ! Yes ! ” hastily answered Raoul, with averted 
face. 

“ Grand Dieu ! What a stake to play for ! You are 
the younger — you would be the only heir! And, ce 
gros bcte de Julian rambles over the world — there is 
shipwreck — a thousand other chances! If you were a 
milord Anglais, would you make me your wife?” 

Raoul trembled in the sudden unveiling of his dark- 
est plans — his wildest hopes ! 

Alone with, a passionate, loving woman, shuddering 
at the yet unformed thoughts of his own mind, haunted 
with his dreams of a vengeance, and burdened with his 
dead mother’s secrets, Raoul bowed his head, and 
gasped “ Yes ! ” 

“ Swear it to me ! ” muttered Laure, her brown eyes 
now darkly sinister. 

“ I swear! ” gasped Raoul, for he saw that fortune 
rrownine Julian, would insure the success of the min- 
ing venture. 


68 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


“ He would be rich, with a vast credit, and I can 
make my share of the mine equal to his own yet ! ” 

For, strong in the pride of his brain and the highest 
technical skill, Raoul Hawtrey knew that he would 
soon drift into the controlling place of the fabulously 
rich mine. 

“ ‘ Sir ’ Julian,” he mused, “ would seek London’s 
pleasures — the gay world — High Life — and I, in the 
parched deserts, would be drudging rolling up his 
wealth ! We shall see ! ” 

“ Raoul ! ” cried Laure, as she threw her head down 
on his bosom, in the shaded alleys of the Bois de Bou- 
logne, “ I will sacrifice even my love for you ! But I 
shall go on with you — to the end ! There is this vast 
fortune, this title, this palace in the green English 
vales! When they are all yours, I shall be at your 
side ! Never betray me, never abandon me, for we 
have gone on too far together — we are one to the death 
noiv ! ” 

They had reached the Place de la Concorde before 
Raoul awoke from his astonishment at the reckless 
woman’s intensity of feeling. 

Perhaps the fiery philter of the Orient sun had 
quickened the fierce passions of her wayward heart ! 

“ She must know nothing more ! ” vowed the startled 
lover. “ It is a tigress awakened now ! ” 

And, coward like, he rejoiced that the wreck of Sir 
Aubrey’s wasted life would be the woman’s work 
alone ! 

“ I will keep away from him ! ” he mused. 

The artful Venus Victrix halted the carriage in a side 
street ! 

“ Here we separate ! ” she whispered. “ I go to my 
hairdresser’s for les pattes d’arraignee, the finishing 
touches! We must not be seen together! I will dis- 
miss this carriage! You can arrive on foot! I will 
take another, in a half an hour, and then — descend, 
cites Maxime.” 

“ Remember,” whispered Raoul, “ you must hold 
him in Paris ! Here you are all powerful ! ” 

“ Trust me for that,” laughed Laure. " There is no 
danger ! Marthe, the dame d’attente, tells me that the 
remedies which Richepin gives him are so dangerous 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


69 


that only here they may be administered, en presence 
du medecin! Not eVen his valet of twenty years is to 
be trusted for that ! ” 

“ And, what address will you give him? ” suddenly 
demanded the man who now felt himself fast drifting 
into hands stronger than his own. 

“The Hotel de l’Aigle at Suresnes!” calmly said 
Laure, her face flushing crimson. “ You go away to- 
morrow night, and — le Baron Aubrey will, I think, find 
some little villa for his further stay ! If I lied, he might 
trace me ! Otice that we separate, volt are no longer a 
source of danger ! ’’ 

“ And, my letters ? ” demanded Raoul, with some 
anxiety. “ Of course, you write only to the Consulate- 
General at New York ! ” 

Laure handed him a card. “ There is the only safe 
olace and name in Paris ! It is invulnerable ! Marthe 
Leboeuf is my old nurse.” 

And though he craftily sought out the little shoe- 
maker’s shop in the Rue Neuve des Petits Champs be- 
fore he left Paris, the elegant Raoul never dreamed 
that the broken, middle-aged woman was the “ hottest 
sister ” of the twain ! That, la Comtesse Laure Duver- 
nay had begun life *as one of two abandoned, nameless 
waifs — a barefooted flowfer girl in the dark, narrow 
alley of the * Bouilleabaisse ’ legend ! She was a flow- 
er of the gutters of Paris ! 

There was light and the glitter of silver, the odors of 
good wine and the gleam of bad diamonds in Maxime’s 
well-oiled menage, as Laure Duvernay swept through 
the front hall, an hour later, gliding swiftly up to the 
dais of the haute volee. 

“ Tout cc qu il ya du chic! ” murmured a half dozen 
leaden-eyed convives as the Maitre de Hotel, silver 
chain on neck, received “ Madame ” with a low bow. 

The gleam of a half louis and the slipping of the card 
into Auguste’s hand brought a bow precisely half as 
loiv as a full louis. For, Auguste regulated his cour- 
tesy in a scale of the most rigid austerity ! 

And then, in a few moments, the self-possessed 
Raoul, with an air of decision, quietly following, took 
his place at the diagonal table. 

The obsequious garqon had barely finished the not- 


7 o 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


ing of Madame’s repast “ tres soigne ” when, with ill- 
restrained anger, the lover noted two clubmen, 
insolently confident of their rank as “ habitues,” delib- 
erately seat themselves in dangerous proximity to the 
beauty, whose superb bouquet of violettes de Parme 
was fastened in the exquisitely jeweled trifle which had 
been Sir Aubrey *s first timid offering! 

The influx of these gommeux caused the engi- 
neer to ignore the quiet entrance of Sir Aubrey, whose 
valet had discreetly retired after piloting the aristocrat 
, to Madame Laure’s table. 

In half an hour, the famous resort was crowded 
vvith the bright-witted vultures of clubland — the keen, 
heartless arbiters of fashion and pleasure ! A few 
women, faultless in attire, even if shaky in .morals, were 
sprinkled throughout the room, the ensemble being as 
dangerous an entourage as even the fearless adventur- 
ess dared face unmoved ! Raoul absently ordered his 
dinner, with furtive glances watching the slender 
physique and pallid countenance of the head of his 
house. 

The wineglass trembled in Sir Aubrey’s wasted fin- 
gers as he pledged the beautiful woman who was the 
center of an ill-concealed “ public Examen.” 

But the two, so strangely drifting toward each other, 
were all absorbed in their low murmurs, and only the 
audacious clubmen followed on the tete-a-tete in which 
Sir Aubrey had lost himself. 

Suddenly, low titters of laughter aroused Raoul, 
whose face darkened, as one of the wine-emboldened 
insulters deliberately executed a well-deVised imitation 
of the invalid Englishman’s manner, using a two-franc 
piece as a “ monode.” It was the culmination of a 
vulgar persecution ! 

There was a mirror which gave the unruffled Sir 
Aubrey a view of this performance, at which the fright- 
ened Laure had suddenly paled and gazed around in 
sheer helplessness ! 

The Polytechnique ^leve started up as Sir Aubrey 
deliberately arose and calmly tossed his glass of wine 
into the face of the leering youth ! 

There was a rush — a wild clamor — but, lithe as a 
panther, RaouL had leaped between the two men ! His 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


71 


arm shot out like a flash, and the young bully came 
down, “ as cattle drop,” across the broken chairs ! 

“It is infamous ! ” cried Raoul, in a ringing voice. 
“ Monsieur is an invalid — a helpless man ! It was 
tache! ” 

To the companion who had sprang forward, after 
Raoul’s nervous arm had hurled him off, Sir Aubrey 
extended a card. “ You can send your friends to me. 
at the British Embassy,” he icily remarked, “ if, you 
claim to be of the rank of gentlemen ! ” 

Allow me ! ” said Raoul, as the Baronet offered lus 
arm to the half-fainting woman. “ Let me see you to 
your carriage ! ” 

“ My footman will remain and settle the bill,” said 
Sir Aubrey, at the door, when the Manager, profuse in 
apology, rushed entreatinglv to the entrance. 

“And I, will remain and settle with you!” fiercely 
cried Paul to the still menacing uninjured clubman. 

.At the door of the carriage Raoul hastily bade adieu 
to his unsuspecting kinsman. “ It is nothing, Mon- 
sieur ! ” he said, secretly pressing Laure’s trembling 
hand ! “ This is a matter of the police, not of honor ! ” 

And, only upon the explanation that “ Paul de Ville- 
mont ” was leaving Paris next day, could Raoul dis- 
patch the gallant dupe with his lovely siren! 

“ That binds them together pour ton jours! He will 
never leave her now! ” growled Raoul, as he turned 
back into the cafe. 

“ If you fancy to take a lesson in swordsmanship,” 
coolly said Raoul, lighting a cigarette, “ follow me! ” 

He faced the excited champion of the man whose 
crushed features were being “ put under repair,” now 
in a waiting-room. 

Raoul bitterly added, “ There’s a good excuse! ” as 
he delivered a ringing slap in the bully’s face. 

“ I’m with you! ” remarked a sturdy cavalry captain 
from Saumur, as Raoul stood by until Sir Aubrev’s 
valet had paid for the waiter’s interrupted menu. “ I 
remember vour face at the Polvtechnique! ” 

“ I need a little practice,” quietlv remarked Raoul, 
as le Capitaine Georges d’Albeft, Neuvieme Regiment 
c!c Cr.v"/crie Lcgere, very callously arranged all the 


72 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


particulars with a sullen mob of the habitues. It Was 
a fight on the instant! 

When the long procession of carriages, which 
reached the nearest salles d’armes in the Avenue Jena 
in hot haste, slowly dispersed, after an hour, the bluff 
Captain d’Albert remarked to the surgeon, hastening 
out for medicines, “ Please tell that gentleman, when 
you have dressed his shoulder, that his friend can also 
be accommodated by be at this same address! My 
principal leaves town to-night!” 

Raoul Hawtrey only escaped from his fellow-officer 
after a jolly wine party at the Cafe Riche! 

“ Diantre! But you are a strong sword! ” laughed 
d’Albert, you’ve not forgotten your Polytechnique 
practice! You pinned him to the wall through that 
shoulder, in fine shape! ” 

“ I fancy that he will not insult any more sick 
strangers, for a semestre! ” moodily replied Raoul, 
who at last sought the shelter of Suresnes to escape 
from the noisy congratulations of several of the chiv- 
alric guests who had insisted on taking his side in the 
double quarrel! It had been a superbly devised acci- 
dental riveting of Sir Aubrey’s chains! 

Alone, and now anxious for his departure, Raoul 
having sent all his luggage on to the Gare St. Lazare, 
telegraphed his departure to the United Service Club! 
It was late in the afternoon when Laure Duvernay 
silently entered! She threw her arms around him in a 
frenzy of delight! 

“ All Paris knows of your bravery ; and, you risked 
your life for me! ” 

“ Let us talk only of our parting, Laure,” sadly said 
the man, into whose soul the demon of unrest had now 
entered! He asked no proof of her guilty victory! 
For, on her snowy finger shone the matchless ruby 
ring which had gleamed before his eyes when Sir 
Aubrey faced his cowardly foe! 

“ It is our last meeting here! ” sobbed the adveh- 
turess. “ There is a villa in the Parc de Fontairie- 
bleau, ready to hide me now ; and, you must forget me 
until we meet again ! ” she sobbed, faithful to her 
chosen lover, even in the dark ways of crime ! 

That night, Raoul Hawtrey watched the wild sea- 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


73 


bird careering over the blackening waters of the 
Channel! He was rushing blindly on to a destiny 
formed for him by the dark spirits who minister to the 
blackest passions of the human heart! 

He had left behind him two erring human souls 
wedded in their sin by the fortuitous happening of the 
Cafe Maxime, and before him, in his path, lingered, 
awaiting him, the crafty kinsman for whose brief 
advancement Laure Duvernay had vowed the destruc- 
tion of her cynical dupe, the head of the unhappy gen- 
eration of the Hawtreys. 

Raoul Hawtrey’s mind was far away from the gav 
banks of the Seine, its loves, its dinners, its duels, and 
all the glitter of the Gallic Vanity Fair, when he was 
trundled across foggy London to St. Pancras Station. 

He had dropped his patronymic, and he smiled 
grimly as he sent his first telegram announcing his 
coming, signed “ Raoul Montbrun.” 

“ I am Mr. Mount-Brown now,” he mused, “ to the 
end of this first American chapter of my life, and I can 
safely leave Laure to amuse herself with despoiling 
Sir Aubrey Hawtrey! My game lies before me, and 
before I am done, Julian shall feel French wit, a 
gleaming rapier, pitted against English brawn, a mere 
clodpole’s club! ” 

On past York, the wily plotter hastened, smiling at 
the way in which he had outwitted Laure. The 
woman who had simply toyed with Abbas Pasha and 
the acute Vcronville, had been easily fooled by her 
adroit lover! He had not responded to her feline 
curiosity as to the imperiled future of the saturnine 
Julian. When Laure murmured “ Go with him! Gain 
his confidence! We must have that property, and the 
title! ” the future wav was not clear! 

But now, safe in his assumed name, Raoul felt all his 
advantages of position. “ Let her go on and clear 
this human wreck. Sir Aubrey, out of my path! Then, 
there is but one obstacle, and who knows what fate 
may hot come to him, the next heir, in those lonely 
Painted Mountains! Laure must never know! There 
is but one to watch— one lynx-eyed meddler — this fel- 
low ‘ Texas Dave,’ a compound of seer and fool, of 
rustic and genius, an honest, brave, and square adven- 


74 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


turer! Laure will not dare to tell her storv, for, I can 
fancy, the little drama in the villa in the Parc de Fon- 
tainebleau, will hardly bear the light. And, she then 
will be in my power! Basta! If she takes wing, with 
her spoils, it will be back to the open arms of Abbas 
and Veronville! 

“ No! I am her master now! Never will I be her 
slave! She must, not be able to follow on my path! 
Silence is strength here! ” 

While the giant “ Lucania ” strained at her moor- 
ings in the muddy Mersey, Julian Hawtrey, sitting at 
ease in the Northwestern Hotel at Liverpool, gloated 
over that first telegram of his intended dupe! Julian 
felt safe now! Here was “ Texas Dave ” safe under 
his own eyes, and now, cut off from all possible temp- 
tation by Don Andres Armijos’s unknown banker 
friends. 

The Texan was in high glee, for the last final rat- 
ification of the New Mexico Cattle Company’s re- 
organization had made all his future plans sure of a 
peaceful fruition. 

“ If the company had a busted up,” thought Dave, 
“ the fellows out there would have lynched me, dead 
sure. 

“ And then Hannah Maverick would ha’ lost a good 
husband, an’ my sheep ranch scheme would have been 
laid off fer good! This yere copper scheme is sure 
in make the Cunnel pav off all them wild cattle 
fellers! ” 

Julian, prospectively promoted to a “ Colonelcy of 
the frontier,” little dreamed of the game of cross- 
purposes now being silently dealt out by the cards of 
Fate! 

For reasons of his own, the sly promoter had left 
Soames behind him. It suited his own secret plans, 
and was backed up by Dave Ross’s vigorous advice. 

“ You don’t need no valet out thar,” sententiously 
said Dave. “ Jes’ roll out of the blankets, shake 
yourself, an’ comb yer hair with yer fingers. That’s 
the frontier! Besides, we must fly light, and only 
pack in our grub, a few tools, blankets, and ammuni- 
tion! We don’t want no feller to chatter and bring a 
whole Lt of rustlers on to us, to jump our claims! 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


75 


Only you and I, and your man, Mr. Mount-Brown, 
shall see the mine till we’ve got her dead square to 
rights! We are pardners, you and I; and, surely, 
Mount-Brown won’t talk!” 

“He won’t talk, when I’ve finished with him!” 
mused Julian, strolling to the window, with its*dreary 
outlook of a procession of umbrellas, drizzling rain, 
and drenched cabs. 

“ He will bring all his private papers with him; he 
will have the key of this life mystery of ‘ La Mvster- 
ieuse-’ somewhere about him. When he has verified 
the mine, laid out the proper working process, and 
I have squeezed him like an orange, he may be ‘ lost 
on the prairie.’ 

“ But I must hoodwink “Texas Dave”! This fellow 
is no fool. I can easily get him out of the way ! Once 
alone with me, in the Painted Mountains, Raoul shall 
yield up the secret which wrecked our family! ” So 
it seems there were two human wolves in the 
strangely assorted family of the dead English officer. 

There was no time for useless delay when Raoul 
leaped out of the dripping cab at the hotel door. 
Julian was already in waiting, surrounded by a crowd 
of flunkeys, voracious of the last unearned shilling. 

“ Jump in, old man! ” cheerily cried Julian. “ Our 
luggage and outfit is all on board! We’ve no time to 
lose! The tug waits for the last mails and pas- 
sengers ! ” 

On the way to the docks, Raoul only had time to 
learn the cheering news that the London assays and 
workings had more than confirmed the Paris ex- 
periments. 

Through a crowd of drunken sailors, wharf loung- 
ers, cabbies, and helmeted Bobbies, the three voyagers 
reached the tug, and, in half an hour, the great “ Lu- 
cania,” with much fiddling and responding to the pull 
# of a half dozen teasing tugs, grandly moved out of the 
muddy ditch seaward! The mysterious quest had 
begun! 

“ Monsieur Mont Brun ” pocketed his ticket- and 
then calmly proceeded to satisfy his fast, while “Texas 
Dave ” in wonder examined all the impedimenta fill- 
ing the three staterooms. 


76 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


That night, in their constitutional on deck, Dave 
unbosomed himself on the subject of the outfit, for 
Julian had courteously said to his brother, “ YoUr 
traps are all in your room! I’ve tried to fit you out 
well, and if there is anything further needed, you will 
have my carte blanche at New York! And Dave, at 
Coyote, will of course provide the tents, animals, and 
the camping supplies.” 

Shall we stay long in New York City? ” demanded 
the alert Frenchman. 

“ Only two or three days! Dave and I wish to see 
the works at Newark, where the ore was worked, and 
have a talk about the right process for working! Of 
course we expect you to join us in that. You will 
Want a day or so for yourself in New York? ” 

“ One day will suffice! I should like to drive around 
the modern Babylon,” cautiously said Raoul, mindful 
of his consular visit. 

“Well, let us make a rule!” gravely said Julian. 

“ These ocean steamers are crowded with the sharpest 
men and women of the world! Our mining business 
is not to be mentioned till we are safe On the prairie 
at Coyote, save during that visit to the Newark 
works.” 

“That’s dead right! ” exclaimed Dave. 

“ Everyone tried to ‘ rope me ’ on the Way over! ” 

“ And voit! ” laughed Raoul to Julian. “ How will 
you put in your time? ” % 

“ Whist, the smoking-room, and B. and S.,” was 
Julian’s answer. “ You, of course, will follow up the 
ladies? ” 

“ Pourquoi non? That is their. sole use! ” remarked 
Raoul. “ To amuse the man, and pour passer Ic 
temps! I shall explore the sex, always ‘ an undis- 
covered country! ’ ” 

And so, as the great ship plunged on over the green* 
rollers, the two brothers — bitter enemies at heart — 
went their prudently different ways, the soul of each 
filled with a thirst of gold, with dreams of place and 
power, while honest Dave Ross, with painfullv im- 
perative digs of the pen, poured out his heart, on 
paper, to the red-cheeked Hannah Maverick, the belle 
of Rio Arriba County, now awaiting him at Calietite. 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


7 / 

“ Shell know that I’ve got the whole business situa- 
tion, in a nutshell ! ” grinned the happy bridegroom- 
to-be. 

And so, as the days sped on, Julian easily got up to 
his old form at whist, Monsieur de Montbruri made 
deep incursions into the hearts of the fairest voyagers, 
and no one suspected the secret compact of the three 
strangely assorted adventurers hastening over to 
grasp the unprotected treasures lying far across the 
sandy mesas in the lonely peaks of the great divide 
separating the watersheds of the Atlantic and Pacific. 

Carefully watchful not to excite Julian’s jealousy by 
any confidential chats with the Texan, Raoul merely 
went over with the frontiersman in his cabin all the 
details of his personal outfit. 

Vastly amused was Julian when he dropped into the 
cabin and found Raoul examining a remarkably 
powerful-looking revolver, which, with its cartridge 
belt, hung at the head of his berth. 

“That’s something that I pride myself on!” re- 
marked the elder brother. “ When I went to Africa. 
I had these two revolvers made especially for me by 
Weblev. The'- carry the regular heavy army cart- 
ridge. caHber .60, the heaviest ball fired from a hand 
arm; that is, outside of tiger and elephant rifles! I 
have one for myself, and I give you this one! For we 
will be together, and so, our ammunition will be inter- 
changeable! ” 

“ It’s a magnificent weapon! ” critically said Dave. 
“ I’ve my old Colt’s .45, but this would stop a grizzly 
bear! You are right! Out with us, a man needs a 
hand weapon heavy enough to kill any moving thing 
at a short range! This ball would go plum through 
a buffalo/’ 

“ Yes! and the slugs are steel tipped and pointed! ” 
proudly cried Julian, returning with a sample car- 
tridge. I have five hundred rounds of this special 
ammunition.” 

Noting the frontiersman’s admiration of the beauti- 
ful weapon, fashioned out of hand-worked steel drop- 
forgings, the “ Colonel ” good-humoredly said, 
“ Dave, you take us to our journey’s end and show Us 


78 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


what we seek, and then, I’ll give you my own re- 
volver! ” 

“ You must keep yours,” the promoter said, turning 
to Raoul, " and, by and by, Webley can duplicate it for 
me! I have his written guaranty never to make 
another! ” 

“All right!” carelessly answered Raoul, as he 
strolled away, hearing the voice of his chere antic 
Mademoiselle CrUche-cassee, of the great army of 
French Devourers of Humanity, an extremely light- 
headed, light-hearted, and light-heeled prima donna, 
ringing out down in the cabin. 

“That French chap wouldn’t kill a fly!” audibly 
mused “Texas Dave,” as the two moved away. 

“ You are mistaken,” calmly answered Julian. 
“ He’s brave enough, and he has been in the army 
also ! ” 

Three days later, after a desperate engagement with 
the New York customs officials, the party left the 
docks, where Mademoiselle Cruche-cassee, an en- 
raged tigress, was objurgating “ ces betes d’Amer- 
i cains” and the party modestly put up at the Astor 
House. 

“You can take your ‘day off ’ to-morrow,” said 
Julian to his brother. “ I will arrange all the railway 
affairs, and Dave can go over and warn the Newark 
people of our coming visit! Then, day after to- 
morrow, you will go with us! Remember you are just 
to be a Frenchman and a ‘ greenhorn ’ — a man who 
understands ,no word of English, a mere layman, but 
you’ll keep your eyes open ! ” 

“ Never fear ! ” gayly answer Raoul, as he departed 
to make his evening toilet, and skip off to the nearest 
theater, while the happy Dave rushed away to tele- 
graph to Miss. Hannah Maverick, Caliente, Rio Ar- 
riba County, New Mexico, and to mail his bundle of 
letters. 

When the party settled down in the cars, two days 
later, for. a long sweep ta New Orleans, Trinidad, and 
Santa Fe, Julian congratulated Raoul. “ You played 
your part well over at the Newark works,” he re- 
marked. 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


79 


For, the acute engineer had gathered every cjetaii 
of the American processes with marvelous acumen. 

“ I’m a fair actor,” the' Frenchman smilingly said. 

“ There’s only one man in the world to handle these 
ores! It is Ambroise Larue, of Sheffield and Swansea. 
He has a process that will double our net returns? 
And, on our return, he must be interested! He is a 
sly old Belgian, and owns the patent! He must be 
‘ taken in,’ and hoodwinked, for he drives a hard 
bargain! ” 

“And you shall be, my friend! ” mused Julian, as he 
strolled away, to enter the name instantly on his shirt 
cuff. 

“ I think Laure in England, and myself in America, 
can handle that mine! ” decided Raoul, as he care- 
lessly rolled up a cigarette en Turc, and laughed as he 
thought of his visits to the French Consul in New 
York and certain dark projects which he dared not 
breathe! “I will hoodwink them all!” he laughed. 
“And, Laure is already at work ! ” 


CHAPTER V. 

IN THE PAINTED MOUNTAINS — “THIS SHALL BE MINE 1 . ” 

Three weeks later, the “ French Count,” as he was 
termed, strolled leisurely up and down the crowded 
streets of the little town of Caliente, in New Mexico. 
He had become vastly tired of his comparative in- 
action, while Julian Hawtrey, as the Specially Em- 
powered Manager of the New Mexico Cattle Com - 
pany, was busied with all the readjustment of thar 
moribund company’s affairs. 

There had been long conferences with Don Andres 
Armijo, a number of public meetings of the claim- 
holders, and frequent sittings of the lawyers and of- 
ficials. 

But, Caliente, a shackly frontier settlement, clus- 
tered around its one-track railway, offered little to 
interest the refined engineer. 


8o 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


Taos County was a duplicate of Rio Arriba, and the 
Frenchman had ample leisure to review the astound- 
ing panorama of his hurried voyage. 

The Middle States, the pine-clad South, the broad 
Texan plains — all these were new, but barren vistas 
to the man who had feasted his eyes So long upon the 
gorgeous color pageants of the Orient. 

The medley of adobes, rough sheds, barrooms, 
“ stores,” shops, and cottages which made up Cal- 
iente, were mean and pauperlike scenes, as he thought 
of the cloud-capped towers and gorgeous pinnacles of 
Constantinople. 

In the muddy, unpaved streets, low-browed Indians* 
wandering negroes, swarthy Mexicans, and uncouth 
frontiersmen were thronged in a motley mass. The 
visible women were either faded drudges, or parti- 
colored creoles, while in the pretentious “ Albu- 
querque Hotel ” and the gaudy “ saloons*” gamblers, 
” drummers,” tourists, rude frontier cattlemen* 
swarthy desperadoes, and wandering* cheap actors 
made up a forbidding melange. 

This was a “ pent-up Utica ” for the crafty French 
plotter, who watched his scheming brother with an 
unerring patience, and lost no movement of “ Texas 
Dave,” now, a local man of mark ! 

Raoul well knew that before they could move out 
for the Painted Mountains, the affairs of the unhappy 
company must be all “ straightened out,” to use 
Dave’s vernacular. 

The quest was to be a secret one. and he recog- 
nized Julian’s sagacity in their proposed departure by 
wagon, to Coyote. The real “ flying start ” was to be 
made from there, with a pack train and camp outfit, 
under the escort of a score of riders, presumably “ to 
look up sheep ranges.” It was a well-hidden expe- 
dition. 

No one had as yet penetrated the secret connection 
between the three men, and Julian Hawtrv had easily 
renewed all the acquaintances of his previous Visit. 
This time of waiting was not lost, for Raoul was left 
free to arrange his own mental devices. 

While absolutely devoid of emplovment, the keen 
Frenchman secretly studied the entourage of the prin- 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


8l 


cipal actors in the coming drama which was destined 
to make Julian Hawtrey, a Copper King. There had 
not been a single word lisped upon the dangerous 
quest ! 

Julian had never even once referred to Ambroise 
Larue, the great Belgian-born metallurgist, whose 
chimneys flamed day and night at Sheffield, whose 
furnace-stacks lit up the acid-gnawed lands around 
Swansea. 

By day, Raoul had carefully examined the hetero- 
’geneous community until he found a stranded French 
jeweler, Franqois Duval, who was also the optician 
and general scientist of the little town. 

Satisfied of this man’s reliability, Raoul furtively 
telegraphed to the Consul-General of France in New 
York City to forward his mail under cover to the 
lonely Gaul, who was delighted to revive his mother- 
tongue. 

The appellation “ Mont Brun ” had been localized, 
and the engineer was known as Monsieur Brown, or. 
vaguely, as “ the Count.” 

While Julian sported his unmistakably English 
“ togs,” and “ Texas Dave” was again a typical “cow- 
boy,” the studied elegance of Raoul’s garb had darkly 
confirmed the theory of his aristocratic lineage. 

For, he disdained to don the frontier habiliments, 
until they had rendezvoused at Coyote, the company’s 
head ranch house, for the trip to the mountains. 

Affecting an entire ignorance of the English lan- 
guage, in deference to the artful Julian’s wish, Raoul 
was a walking mystery to Miss Hannah Maverick, 
whose neat, white cottage home, with green blinds and 
a real piano, occupied the same relative place in Cal- 
iente, as the Parthenon in proud Athens. 

The honest Texan girl, bashful before the dis- 
tinguished^ooking “ Count,” sang her few simple 
songs in a .frightened tremolo, and missed several of 
the most important “ runs ” in that Paderewskian 
attempt, “ The Shower of Pearls! ” 

But, one sinister adventure caused Raoul Hawtrey 
to realize that he must “ dress down ” to the rude 
people, and drop the Parisian cut in his garments. 


82 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


The effeminacy of his delicate face, the sleek sym- 
metry of his form, the comparative “ Tyrian purple ” 
of his garb, induced a brawny, drink-maddened bar- 
room reveler to rudely assault the “ Cc in the 
benevolent idea of making “ a Tittle fu:: ys.“ 

Julian and the honest Dave happened .1 the 

next room, when the “ Count,” leaping back, executed 
a singular movement of “ le savate,” which stretched 
the burly brawler senseless on the floor! 

A half-dozen pistols were already drawn when 
“ Texas Dave,” his eyes ablaze, leaped into the angry • 
circle. 

In his hand was a cocked revolver, with several 
ominous notches on the stock, a grim record of the 
cowboy’s prowess. 

“ The man who insults this man dies! ” grimly cried 
Dave. “ He is a gentleman and a stranger. Let him 
alone — the whole gang! ” 

And, when the now angered Raoul was led triumph- 
antly from the room, the bystanders remarked: 

” That there French Count is a daisy! He just stepped 
back, folded his arms, bowed politely — an’ kicked Big 
Jim’s head half off! ” 

With some acerbity, “ Raoul Mont Brun ” appeared 
next day, clad in plain traveling russet; but girt with 
the cartridge-filled belt and the huge revolver presented 
by his crafty brother. 

The curious loungers marked the quiet determina- 
tion of the young Frenchman, and over their “ toddy,” 
decided that he was “ a good proposition to let alone.” 

Arizona Sam remarked judiciously: “ That there 
Count’s got a revolver as big as a young cannon, and, 
by Gosh, he just waltzes around as if he was dying to 
use it ! Besides, ‘Texas Dave’s’ a dead shot, and strict- 
ly a man of his word ! The chap what kills ‘Frenchy ’ 
has got to kill Dave or pull ‘ up stakes ’ and clear the 
countrv.” A period of profound peace at once inter- 
vened ! 

The nio-ht before their departure for Covote — bv 
providential luck — Raoul received all his letters from 
New York City. 


BROUGHT TO BAY. * 83 

A smile of sinister content settled upon his face as 
he read a few lines from Laure Duvernay. 

The letter was unsigned, but the sinister triumph 
of the woman who had sworn him to share her life 
was evident. When Raoul saw the last fragment of 
the letter disappear in smoke and ashes, he muttered: 

“ And so, she now has him in her power ! He has 
begged her to visit Combermere, and Doctor Richepin 
thinks that Sir Aubrey will not live three months ! ” 

The dark adventurer instantly telegraphed through 
his Gallic ally to the Consul-General to withhold all 
future letters. 

“ She must not have a line from me to show — not 
a single line!” he mused. “She, tiger-hearted, will 
do her work for the plunder, but, Julian must not be 
in Europe when it happens! ” 

On the next morning in a road-wagon, escorted by 
a half dozen well-armed men, the three secret explor- 
ers drove down the long, straggling street of Caliente. 
While “ Texas Dave ” waved his adieu to the buxom 
Hannah Maverick, standing with a huge sun-bonnet 
on her shapely head on the porch of the Squire’s 
home, Raoul’s heart leaped up within him. So far he 
had ndt been recognized, in any way, as Julian’s 
brother. He had found a most useful confederate in 
old Frangois, the watchmaker. And with the artful 
idea of a “ double cross,” he had sent a few loving 
words to New York, dated “ en voyage,” to be mailed 
at the Consulate to the secret address of Laure Duver- 
nay. 

“ I am safe now! Free to play at any game! ” de- 
lightedly mused Raoul. “ For, she will be forced to 
cover her tracks — if Sir Aubrey Hawtrey should sud- 
denly die on her hands! ” 

Julian was in great form on this crisp September 
morning, as they rolled along over the stony prairie. 
The heavy goods were already at Coyote, the escort 
and pack-train were all in readiness, and he had closed 
the important cattle and sheep compact with Don 
Andres Armijo. The cabled news of the ratified 
agreement was already delighting the Executive Com- 
mittee in Londen, and a doubled committee of three 
men, named by each party, were already proceeding 


8 4 • 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


to arrange for herding up the cattle and counting up 
the sheep — transferring them over, in lots of a thou- 
sand accepted cattle and ten thousand accepted sheep, 
on each side. 

“ Texas Dave’s ” glee was undisguised, for he saw 
in the rapidly effected negotiations the near approach 
of his simple nuptials, the one ambition of his honest 
heart. 

The departing travelers had left a knot of “ quid- 
nuncs ” behind them, who held ambulatory sittings in 
the various saloons of Caliente. The local astonish- 
ment that “ the Count ” had escaped “ Big Jim’s ” 
avenging pistol was considerable. It was true that 
Big Jim had been adjudged to have shown the “ white 
feather ! ” But, a generally accepted solution of the 
mystery of “ Mr. Mount Brown,” “ Count Brown,” 
or “ the Count,” was found in the general belief that 
he was a secret agent of the “ people in Europe,” who 
were putting up the “ big money ” to square up the 
Cattle Company’s affairs. 

“ Boys, let him live! He is 1 persona grata ’ 1 ” said 
Squire Maverick, the father of the bouncing Miss 
Hannah. The Justice of the Peace came down to his 
audience by saying: “ Anyone who will get those 
French and English suckers to invest good money 
out here, ought to live!” 

And, this dictum of the only man in town author- 
ized to wear a silk hat and a crooked-necked cane, 
by a dignity which legally clothed him, went on record 
as the sum of human wisdom. 

“The titles to this property are all right!” mean- 
ingly remarked Julian, in French, to Raoul, as they 
dashed along. “ I have examined the deeds, survevs, 
locations, and all the certificates and government 
papers. It only remains for you to find that the body 
of ore exists, and of the grade sampled by our friend.” 

And so, as they watched the bobbing prairie dogs, 
the scattering ground squirrels, and marked the lean, 
gray prairie wolves stealing along after the scattered 
sheep, the two brothers easily chatted in the French 
tongue, thus made invincible to their neighbor’s curi- 
osity. 

Each of the wary Hawtreys felt that they distrust- 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


85 


ed each other, for, as they sped along, no memories 
of a common parentage, no recalling of a childish, 
friendly nurture, drew them together. 

Sleeping by night, at the wayside road-houses, toil- 
ing along by day, over the coyote-infested plains, the 
two wary, secret antagonists were no whit the wiser 
as to each others secrets, when they drew up on the 
sixth day at the great adobe stronghold of the bank- 
rupt Cattle Company. Located in a vast, green valley, 
a rich oasis in the sandy mesas, the Home Ranch, with 
its huge corrals, its outlying settlement of Mexicans 
and straggling Indians, was a dreary and forbidding 
abode. A half-drunken German clerk, with a lustrous- 
eyed, slatternly frontier woman waif, welcomed them 
to the lonely spot where the unfortunate Major Gib- 
son had been bucked off and broke his neck. And 
yet, the woman had been a beauty once ! Her story 
shone out in her furtive, velvety ey'es, the story of a 
human downfall. 

Scattered around the paseo, were the men, mules, 
and burros, gathered up for the mountain trip. As 
they dismounted, Julian rapidly cautioned the Count: 

“ Remember! No confidences! No careless re- 
marks here! This broken-down German clerk may 
speak French and the woman looks like a foreigner. 
Once out in the mountains, alone together- -ou and 
I can share our secrets, for then, we will ha. e only 
Dave to watch us!” 

The listener nodded his grave assent. 

Struck by a sudden emotion. Raoul Hawtrey wan- 
dered out through the crowd of swarthy vaqueros to 
catch a glimpse of the Hermosa Range. There, 
towering up in the thin, green sky, were the blue, pine- 
crested ridges which hid the coveted' fortune. So 
thin, so clear the air, it seemed that a day’s march 
would easily reach their bases, but the great Divide 
grandly swept northward to the fastnesses of the Ji- 
carilla Apaches and far away south to the desert 
around Fort Wingate. 

“ Once out there in the mountains, alone together,” 
softly repeated Raoul, as he recalled his brother’s 
words. His teeth chattered with a sudden chill, as he 
saw Julian stealthily regarding him. 


86 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


“ Does he already suspect? ” the plotter thought, 
as the blood rushed to his heart, and then, he entered 
the house and, with a forced gayety, joined in Julian’s 
jubilant potations. 

While “ Texas Dave,” now'the sole director of the 
voyage, busied himself with preparing the train and 
escort, Raoul carefully looked over the secret pack- 
ing of the assay and' sampling outfit for the masked 
voyage of verification. Julian’s tour of inspection of 
the cattle herds necessitated a day’s delay, in which 
time the light-minded Raoul had achieved an insidi- 
ous intimacy with the once good-looking woman, 
who had fled westwardly with the now drink-sodden 
Johann Eschenbach. On the night before their de- 
parture for the mountains, Raoul stole out alone to 
gaze upon that lofty range, sculptured in the hazy 
blue, with the silver stars hanging high over its grace- 
ful peaks. 

“ There is the lottery of life and death out there! 
There is fortune beyond the miser’s dreams! And 
of us two, which shall be the victor? ” 

The weaving spider watched the faraway summits 
whence the Puerco on the east, flows to the Gulf of 
Mexico on the Atlantic; and, the San Juan, on the 
west, to the Gulf of California on the Pacific, and he 
murmured : 

“ It is a royal stake to play for — this mine of the 
Painted Mountains! The crown of fortune which 
hovers over his head! He has made the way smooth 
for me! He has denied me, even in name, for his 
profit! And I swear, in time, this shall all be mine!’' 

Julian, bluff and burly, sitting with “ Texas Dave,” 
now actively ordering their departure, watched 
askance, while Raoul returned to the poor woman 
dupe whom he was idly flattering. 

“ Fool! ” thought Julian. “ If I knew all about Mr. 
Ambroise Larue and his patent, I would soon lose you 
in these mountains ! But, I can afford well to wait. 
You shall serve your purpose. I wjll use you — fool 
you to the top of your bent, and then, two of us shall 
go to the Painted Mountains and but one return ! 
For the secret of that French mother’s life — the un- 
faithful wife" — who cost my father a title, shall be mine 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


8 ; 


if I wrench it from your heart ! Once out there in 
the Painted Mountains, when the hour of fate strikes, 
we will soon settle accounts! ” 

And, each intending to be “ his brother’s keeper,” 
two Cains drank together that night, in that strange 
brotherhood wherein no Abel had been born. Here 
were two nineteenth century Cains, divided from the 
mother’s womb by a hereditary lust for gold, title, 
rank, and place, on the one side ; and on the other, by 
a greed for flattery, the applause of crowds, the fickle 
favor of a beauty-loving public, and all the vain, rest- 
less imaginings of a woman’s unstable heart! Aglae 
Madeleine de Montbrun’s mysterious dower of beauty 
had been to her but a crown of sorrows, and the Pan- 
dora’s box of the sealed legacy of her life’s secrets 
was fraught with evil destiny to her dissimilar and 
secretly warring offspring.' 

But, neither of the stalwart Hawtreys philosophized 
as “ Texas Dave’s ” resolute voice sounded the re- 
veille for the journey to the Painted Mountains. 
Even the oldest vaquero realized that Raoul Hawtrey 
was as graceful and lithe as a young Pawnee chief, 
when he turned out, at last, in his mountain rig. He 
had even indulged in a few hours pistol practice With 
Dave Ross’s pet revolver. A crowd of old marksmen 
watched “ the Count’s ” astonishing performance. 
They were amazed when Dave, taking off his hat, 
said earnestly: 

“ Mr. Mount Brown, it was a godsend for ‘ Big 
Jim’ he didn’t get into a shooting-scrap with you! 
You are a boss dead shoC Why don’t ye try the 
young cannon? ” 

Raoul smiled as he handed back the pistol. 

“ We need all that ammunition. It can never be 
replaced. But, Dave, you shall have twelve shots!” 
And then, the stockmen grinned as Dave drove in 
the spots on a six of spades every tim'e with the great 
Weblev. “ That’s a pistol to fight for a man’s life 
with!” he said, as he blew the smoke out of the 
muzzle. 

“ Well, Ross,” whisperfed “ the Count,” keeping up 
his affectation of not speaking English, as he drew 
Dave aside, “ find that mine and I’ll give you my 


88 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


pistol when I leave the country. We will be over 
here one month, and back in three, if we find what 
we are after. I will lay out the works, and then, the 
mine will run itself! ” 

While Julian, the pattern of an “ English explorer,” 
went off to the corrals with Dave and Eschenbach 
to verify the pack train, and start it on, Raoul drew 
Lischen Eschenbach aside for a few words of adieu 
in his soft Parisian. The fugitive wife had been fairly 
well educated abroad, and, she was able to frankly use 
his natal tongue 

“ When I come back I will make your life a little 
lighter,” murmured Raoul, “ and, I will do anything 
you wish in Europe, for I will return in three months.” 

The poor waif had furtively decorated herself to 
please this last admirer. 

“ There is some good looks left in her yet, with 
care and prosperity,” mused Raoul. 

“ I will be your slave,” she whispered, with flashing 
eyes. “ I will die for you — if — if — you will bring me 
"""’s of the child that I left in Mulhausen! Hush! 
They come ! ” 

As the three men rode away, “ Texas Dave ” looked 
back to see -Lischen Eschenbach waving an adieu! 
But, he was busied with admiring Raoul’s magnifi- 
cent handling of the wild mount which he had picked 
out! “ The Cunnel’s a good, all-around man, but this 
here Mount Brown is a Jim dandy! He kin ride like 
a Comanche an’ shoot like a Texan ranger! If lie’s 
dead game — an’ he showed it with ‘ Big Jim ’ — I’d 
sooner tie to him on the perara than the big fellow! 
Cunnel Hawtrey’s just a bit too much of a man! ” 

Relieved from the watchful presence of their escort, 
traveling a half mile ahead, the three horsemen freely 
indulged in a conference in the English language. 

“ Now, Ross! ” sharply said Julian Hawtrey, “ you 
are the boss of the trip! I leave all to you! I wish 
to think all my cattle matters over! You can ride with 
Mr. Mont Brun, and post him, now, on everything 
about the country and the mine. I’ll do my talking 
with you at our halts and in camp! Once there vou 
must not speak to Mont Brun. Let me do that! Re- 
member, he is ahvays the Frenchman ! ” 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


89 

And Julian galloped ahead, taking command of 
their advance guard, fixing his eyes on the lofty ter- 
mination of their three days’ march! 

They left behind Eschenbach, dreaming of promo- 
tion and unlimited libations, through secretly aiding 
Julian in all the Cattle Company’s affairs, and the 
guilty Lischen, dreaming of an escape from a hell on 
earth through the agency of the handsome French- 
man. 

“ How can we get on in camp, up there in the hills, 
you and I?” said Raoul, now anxious to cement an 
intimacy with “ Texas Dave.” 

“ I’ve studied that all out,” simply said Dave. “ I 
have three Mexicans in our ten men, who speak not a 
word but Spanish! I’ll keep them in our camp! The 
seven white men I will put in two little camps on the 
ridge to the north and south, and let them guard the 
summits! Thus they won’t know what we’re up to! ” 

“That’s famous!” simply answered Raoul. “I 
speak Spanish well! I was two years in Spain buying 
ores! ” 

“ And, the Cunnel don’t know a single word ! Bv 
Heavens, you’re a wonder ! ” said “ Texas Dave.” 
“ So, that’s all square and easy now ! ” 

As they plodded along the fretting animals fell into 
the easy frontier jog, the wild herds fled away from 
them, and, on distant knolls and mounds, the black- 
tailed sentinel deer marked their approach. Across 
the dry mesas, the fleet, yellow antelope flickered, and 
the sneaking coyotes passed the word on to their 
skulking mates. Far on ahead, they could mark the 
white cover of the one light spring wagon of their 
flying column, and even when Raoul and Dave halted 
for a luncheon from their saddlebags, Julian was 
moving on a league away to reach an early halting 
place for the night. 

The acute-minded engineer had busied himself on 
the sea voyage and railway with the study of maps and 
French livres de voyage. He had wandered, un- 
marked, around Caliente, secretly picking up the 
gossip of prospector and plainsman; his conferences 
with old Franqois Duval had yielded a rich harvest. 


90 . 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


And now he addressed himself to pumping the earn- 
est-minded Dave Ross. 

“ Not a note will I take,” secretly resolved Raoul. 

" I will, of course, have to make a map and sketches, 
but that great oaf of a brother of mine shall know 
nothing but what I choose to tell him. Cunning 
schemer as he is. he is a mere lump of handsomely 
shaped flesh, a polite Guardsman, fit only to destroy 
the Queen’s beef and beer! And when I get hold of 
Ambroise Larue, if this mine turns out all right, I 
will have a good slice of this fortune or else, an eror 
mous retaining fee! Julian will not dare to throw me 
over till his own fortune is safe — if he does then.” 

Raoul was busied for three hundred yards in mas- 
tering his wild horse, for he had plunged the rowels 
into the wild steed in his involuntary excitement. In 
the long day Ross poured out his stores of accurate 
observation to the keen cross-examiner. The scout 
found Raoul strangely familiar with the formation of 
the great tableland, five thousand feet above the sea, 
with its deep, fertile canyons, its castellated peaks, its 
beautiful natural parks, and its network of streams. 
The fauna and flora, the geology, the. general trend of 
the land, seemed to be pictured in the Frenchman’s 
busy brain. 

“ I can’t tell ye much more,” dejectedly said Dave. 
“ Ye seem to know all I do, an’ a blasted sight more. 
I can just show you the place and then turn you loose 
to work out our fortune ! ” 

It was so; even the distribution of pine, spruce, 
and cedar, oak, ash, maple, and walnut, the value of 
the yucca and amole, and the canaigre, were all known 
to the engineer. He described the lignite and the 
coal, the iron ore and fire clay, the porphyry columns, 
the hot springs and salt lakes, and told of the old 
Spanish mines and their history. 

“ The Injuns would think you was a god! ” admir- 
ingly cried Dave, when Raoul pictured the elk, an- 
telope, deer, mountain sheep, bear, and cougar. He 
knew the wolf and lynx, the coyote and ocelot, and 
laughingly sketched the wild turkeys, geese, ducks, 
and prairie hens, even the strange sage hen of this 
hunter’s paradise! 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


91 


“ The truth is, Dave,” laughed Raoul, “ the old 
Spaniards were pretty good explorers, and you Yan- 
kees are, after all, only vulgar intruders! You frontier 
yahoos know nothing but herding cattle, and this land 
is really virgin, for the old priests and officials kept 
close mouths ! Here is a land as yet idle, fit to support 
millions, fit for wheat, corn, oats, barley, fruits, and 
grapes. Every vegetable grows here, the gama grass 
and alfalfa clover are unequaled, and, with an intelli- 
gent irrigation, sixty million acres of land could be 
made equal to Egypt’s gardens here! 

“ The old Aztecs and Toltecs were once happy here; 
the rude northern Indians, mounted on the vast herds 
of horses, bred from the Spanish stray animals, swept 
away that intelligent race. To-day, the American 
squatter and Mexican mongrels merely infest this 
superb domain. Yes, I have traveled here! In my 
studies, in far-off French and Spanish libraries, for 
the man of education can rove over the world — at 
home ! Books are the eyes and minds of other men ! ” 

The first camp was a cheerful one, and Raoul, 
watchfully silent, listened to Dave Ross’s strange 
, stories of the old Spanish legends, of Kearney’s con- 
quest, of the Southern raiders, and of border fray 
and Indian massacre, until Julian, delighted and 
wearied, knocked the ashes out of his pipe, “ spliced 
the main brace,” and laid down complacently to sleep. 

Beside him, Raoul darkly dreamed of the wilv wo- 
man far away in Paris, of the unfound treasure, and 
of the name and title of the unhappy Hawtrevs. And 
the matin barking of the coyotes roused them ai 
dawn, to reach the foot of the great Divide on the 
night of the third day! 

“ Here,” said Raoul, as he wandered away from the 
camp fire with Julian, “ is the connecting link De- 
tween the rich Rockies and the treasure-bearing Sier- 
ra Madre of Mexico. Four or five broken ranges, 
two hundred miles below, are the real connection, 
but, this great Divide, the camel’s' hump, between the 
Atlantic and Pacific, must be filled with unfailing 
veins of gold, silver, and lead. There is copper, zinc, 
manganese, quicksilver, and other rare metals, with 
store of fine marble, mica, cement, gypsum, and 


92 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


fireclay! There is an unopened treasure house! Geol- 
ogy never lies! Mineralogy is only the localized 
search for the valuable metallurgical harvests! ” 

“ Well,” gruffly said Julian. “ to-morrow night, we 
will know whether Ross has lied or not! ” 

And then, the schemer and the scientist lay down 
to dream side by side! 

At sunset the next day, six exhausted men halted in 
a little valley' formed by the sinking of two wooded 
spurs, four thousand feet above the level of the great 
mesas at Coyote! 

Ross, silent and watchful, had detached the 
wagon and four men to the north, by an easy 
ascent, to take station at a summit prairie four 
miles off, indicated, and light the signal fires. The 
three other whites were sent south to an observation 
peak a league away, with similar instructions, both 
having directions to await Ross’s orders sent by one 
of the Mexicans, and only to close in on the perma- 
nent camp at the Painted Rocks, in case of an attack 
from wandering Jicarillas. 

Gifted with an artist eye, Raoul had paused 
at the last summit knoll looking east to, gaze 
back upon the yellow mesa, stretched out far 
below, with its green valleys, its deep, wooded 
» canyons, leading far away to the silver thread of the 
Puerco. 

To the north and south, nature’s castellated fortifica- 
tions showed more skill than Vauban and Cormon- 
taigne, while the fringing mantle of sighing pines 
stretched northward fifty miles away, to where the 
Jicarilla Apaches gathered the pinon nuts, and chased 
the fat deer in the sycamore and cottonwood forests. 

Delighted with the eastern vista, Raoul, a new Bal- 
boa, in his exalted mind, climbing a rock on the west 
end of the valley, could look down and see the setting 
sun gilding the great western valley of the San Juan, 
sweeping away through Apacheland, to the mighty 
Colorado of the West! 

“It is glorious!” cried the excited Frenchman, 
while the prosaic Julian, after picking out a spot for 
his tent, and spurring the Mexicans on to unload the 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 93 

six pack animals and picket out the horses, demanded 
sharply of Ross: 

“ Now, sir, where’s your copper mine?” 

“ Texas Dave ” coolly unpacked his coffee-pots and 
frying-pans. 

“ We’re Within a mile an’ a half of it! My two men 
have a little cabin down on the ridge, to the west, in 
a little canyon, a half mile away! I’ll steal out after 
supper and call ’em in! I sent a boy, Hannah’s broth- 
er, roundabout out here, to let ’em know we were 
coming, an’ not to go a-shootin’ of oUr men! It’s 
all right! The mine won’t run away till the morn- 
ing! ” 

Some strange excitement seemed to possess Julian 
Hawtrey, after the shelter-tents were spread and a 
hearty meal had been deftly provided by the Mexi- 
cans. 

“ Texas Dave ” had slipped away on his secret 
mission and Raoul, calmly expectant, sat watching 
the silver moon sailing high in heaven and flooding 
the minarets of these lonely Sierras with argent light ! 
The waters dashed merrily on in the canyon below, 
the mountain-owl boomed, and suddenly Julian de- 
manded: 

“What are all these glittering fires?” 

He pointed to a dozen lights flashing, on the north- 
ern summits, twenty leagues away. 

After a few words with the Mexican sentinel, Raoul 
answered: 

“ It’s the Jicarilla Apaches on the warpath. They 
go down and harry the Utes, the Navajos, and the 
Arizona Apaches, now and then.” 

“ We will need protection here! ” gravely said the 
Englishman. “ What do you think of this danger- 
ous location? ” 

With professional calmness, Raoul answered: 

“ I have sketched and angled out an excellent road 
up here. This water-power is evidently abundant ; the 
ores can be moved down hill by their own gravity. 
There is but one question : Is there a mine here? And. 
in a few days, you shall have my professional opin- 
ion! ” 


94 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


The brothers lay rolled up in their blankets by the 
camp fire when the unwearied “ Texas Dave ” s:rcde 
back into the camp. 

“ It’s all right! ” he joyously cried. “ My men have 
been busied as I told them! They have sunk twenty 
little shafts, scattered along a mile and a half on the 
lead, and you can see the depth and breakaway -of 
the exposed vein along the bluffs! They will be in 'at 
daybreak! I’ve given the Mexicans their orders to 
watch the whole camp! The boy will follow us with 
some grub from the cabin to-morrow, and then I’ll 
take you over the whole land! Then, ‘ Mr. Mount 
Brown,’ you can use the two men and the boy for 
any secret prospecting you want, while the Cunnel 
and I look out for the camp ; and he can be com- 
mander while I, will be general scout, and see our 
two outlying parties daily. Thar’s been no one here, 
and, you see, the mine is all right! ” chuckled Dave, 
as he laid down, his head resting on his saddle. “ The 
horses is all right! ” he said. 

“ Do sheep range up here?” suddenly said Julian. 
“ I saw many well-worn trails as we rode up! ” 

“ Them’s Injun paths! ” simply said “ Texas DaveA 
“ These here Jicarillas go gallivanting down the 
ridge, get into the San Mateo, and sneak over to the 
Osairo, and often raid down into Chihuahua! ” 

“ Should we sleep on our arms? ” anxiously asked 
Julian. 

“ It might be just as well,” said the philosophical 
Dave, “ but, the Government’s grubbing them, an’ they 
don’t kill many white men now. It don’t pav ’em! 
Just as well, however, to keep a bright lookout! ” 

And from that very moment, both the brothers de- 
cided to keep that bright lookout! 

Once or twice during the night, Raoul Hawtrey 
raised himself on his elbow, and watched his sleep- 
ing brother! He had been tormented with dreams 
of the woman who, far away, was leading Sir Aubrey 
Hawtrey to his physical ruin! 

“ I wonder if I shall ever see Combermere? ” he 
mused, and his trembling lips formed the words, “ Sir 
Raoul Hawtrev!” 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


95 


He fell asleep, murmuring, “• I can wait! I must 
wait! ” 

But, the giant Julian slept heavily, his only mental 
visions being of the great success of the new Sheep 
Company, of his own rise as a Copper King. He saw 
himself as a leader in Parliament! He saw the meet- 
ing at which the “ service of silver plate,” and “ ap- 
propriate resolutions ” would be voted to the man 
who had brought fortune out of the chaos of the now 
defunct New Mexico Cattle Company. 

When morning dawned, a fretful, irritated man was 
Julian Hawtrey, while “ Mr. Mont Brun ” coolly se- 
lected hi$ portable testing-case and made a store of 
cigarettes for the days outing. 

The rude breakfast over, Julian chafed, while 
“ Texas Dave ” prepared his own mount, and Raoul, 
now the composed scientist, buckled on his cases, 
with chronometer, prismatic compass, testing ham- 
mer, and, lastly, his pistol belt! 

Picking up his notebook, Raoul lit his cigarette, 
and said, “ I am ready! ” 

In a constrained silence, they ./ere led out, artfully 
to the west and south, doubling around to the east, 
Dave riding his catlike lasso horse in advance and 
pausing, every few moments, at Raoul’s uplifted hand. 

Joined by Dave’s night watchers and the lank brother 
of his fiancee , the Texan proudly faced a great dis- 
colored bluff, stained with the mineral decomposi- 
tion of centuries, and simply remarked: 

' “She begins here! There’s ten foot of the ore! 
Now, sail in, ‘ Mr. Mount Brown! ’ I’ll take you along 
the whole lode, zigzagging from the bluffs to all the 
shafts! ” 

The sun rose and beat down upon the exposed 
cliffs, the gray mountain hawk hung poised high above 
them in air, and, Raoul, busy with hammer, blow- 
pipe, -and sketch book, soon became a silent Sphinx to 
all Julian’s eager inquiries. 

At last, the scientist turned sharply on his brother, 
speaking rapidly in French: 

“After you have seen the general exposed fea- 
tures,” he said, “you should let me work alone! It 
will take me two weeks to be able to hazard my pro- 


96 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


fessional name on this! I Will need to prepare 
twenty tons of samples taken under my own eye! 
Then, when these are worked, one part at Newark, 
ofte part in Paris, and one in London, and the last 
by Ambroise Larue, of Sheffield, I can tell you 
whether you have a mine or a mudheap! I think that 
I will have earned my beggarly pittance! Till then, 
you must wait or get someone else! ” 

“ Texas Dave ” whistled vaguely as Julian Haw- 
trey reddened and strode away sullenly, without a 
word in reply; 

“ Damned sharp talk! ” he mused. “ I never heard 
a man ‘cuss out’ his boss before!” 

But, the all-important day slowly wore on ! There 
was a pause of an hour for rest and luncheon! 

When they returned, tired and weary, at night, 
Dave modestly forebore to question the exhausted 
Raoul! The Frenchman, however, tipped Ross a 
wink, which elated him, and was the beginning of a 
secret alliance. 

And so, the two weeks passed along in busy daily 
labors. Raoul Hawtrey, calm and impassive, never 
flinching, watched the three men pounding ore in 
the portable mortar, sacking up samples, digging 
into promising spots, and, at last, the three Mexicans, 
an improvised pack train, had transported sixty 
eighty-pound bags of ore to the foot of the mountain. 

Dave had dispatched his brother-in-law to be, for 
a train of ten wagons, to Coyote, and Mr. Julian Haw- 
trey had luxuriated in a fortnight of splendid moun- 
tain hunting. 

Busied with his gun, he roved from the one out- 
post to the other, Dave Ross his inseparable guide, 
'Raoul having set up his laboratory in the hidden log- 
cabin down in the glen. 

At night, poring over his sketches and figures of 
assay and analysis, “ Mr. Mount Brown ” as yet calm- 
ly locked his secrets in his bosom. 

There was a cheerfulness in Dave Ross’s manner, 
however, which buoyed up Julian! He had notv 
dropped all idea of bullying Raoul, whose lean face 
and bruised hands proved the arduous nature of his 
labors. 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


97 


The saturnine English brother had been satisfied 
with Raoul’s general plan! It would take a week to 
break up camp and return to Coyote! A week’s rest 
at the ranch could be utilized in forwarding the 
sacked ores to Newark, packed carefully in barrels, 
deftly marked, so as to conceal its character. 

While Manager Hawtrey used a fortnight to close 
up his cattle matters, and effect their final transfor- 
mation into sheep, the French scientist could per- 
sonally oversee the working of the ore samples at 
Newark and forward to Paris and London the similar 
portions. 

Lastly, joined by Julian in New York, they were 
to depart together for a conference with the million- 
aire smelter, Ambroise Larue, at Sheffield! 

“ It would be just as well,” placidly said Raoul. 
“ to get him tied down before we expose ourselves! 
That lot of ore must go on with us, in the ship ! ” 

“Go ahead!” said Julian. “You have my carte 
blanche! And say, old man, I will double your fee. 
and Ross and I will double your interest, if you make 
it a success! ” 

“That’s very fair!” cried the delighted French- 
man. 

The earliest drifts of powdery autumn snow warned 
.them now to get out of the chilly Sierras, and so, 
with a deft strategy, Dave Ross saw all his shafts 
and borings filled up with loose earth, brush fires 
covering the surface with ashes! 

The two watchers joined the rear guard of the 
party, composed of the three faithful Mexicans and 
the three principals. 

“ I’ll keep these two fellows under my own eye, at 
work! ” said Dave, as the owners of the Bear Valley 
Copper Mine (Unlimited), followed their retainers 
down the hill. 

Every vestige of their real business had been re- 
moved, the ore samplings being covered with fallen 
wood and burned over. 

The secret was so far safe in their own breasts, and 
the title was secured! 

But, one singular incident had occurred! At the 
northern camp, one of the herdsmen on watch had 


98 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


fired at a skulking stranger, evidently seeking to 
steal their horses, but whether thieving Mexican or 
prowling Indian was never known, for the prowler 
escaped. 

“ Whar there was one, there was more! ” said Ari- 
zona Bill. “ I’m glad we’re safe out of the range! ” 

As the little train set out eastwardly over the mesa, 
the sojourners in Bear Valley were all well content! 
Julian Hawtrey lay at ease in the light wagon, behind 
the column, allowing Raoul and “ Texas Dave ” to 
ride on ahead and finish all their confidential chat! 
The secret expedition had been a great success! 

The stockmen all fancied that the three principals 
were only reconnoitering the sheep range! Julian’s 
ardent hunting betokened the Englishman of Dshi 
“ always killing things,” and “ Mr. Mount Brown ” 
still was supposed to be a secret French financial 
agent! 

The chilly, dark days of September had whitened 
the far-sweeping summits, and “ Texas Dave ” 
chuckled : 

“ That there mine will keep itself till spring! 
There’ll be five feet of snow on the summit till we 
return! ” 

Dave had artfully “ blazed ” the location of his 
twenty shafts. 

The ores had all been dispatched, and the return- 
ing mules were now loaded with Julian’s trophies — 
bear heads, elk horns, cougar skins, and all the after- 
math of his hunting up and down the ridge. 

It was clear, at a glance, that the water-power was 
abundant, the fuel inexhaustible, and could be rolled 
down the hills. 

Raoul had selected a spot where the ore and fuel 
would descend by gravity, where the descending ore 
cars would haul up the empties and half loads of sup- 
• plies. 

“ Show me a mine like this on the earth! ” proudly 
cried Dave. “ We can get Mexicans (the best miners 
in the world) for fifty cents a day to do all the work 
on the summit! ” 

“ The Indians? ” doubtfully said Julian. 

“ Our nervy men can stand off the wj&ole tribe! ” 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


99 


laughed Dave. “ You will be safer here than in Lon- 
don! ” 

Dave had artfully sent the two “ campers,” who 
alone possessed the secret of the location, to await 
him at Squire Maverick’s, under the watchful eye 
of the brother-in-law to be — Hiram Maverick. 

The return to Coyote was signalized by a grand 
“ blow out ” to the men, and Raoul, still silent, but 
calm and contented, worked over his papers, while 
Julian and “Texas Dave” finished the inspection of 
the outlying cattle. 

Eschenbach was with them, preparing the final cat- 
tle lists, and so, Raoul was left alone with the passion 
haunted Lischen Eschenbach! 

These two walked out alone under the stars the 
night before Raoul’s departure. 

“ And, you will bring me news of my child? ” sobbed 
the excited woman. 

“ Yes! And I swear that I will take you away from 
these brutes on my return,” was Raoul’s pledge. 
When he left, he knew that a guilty and a willing 
slave watched for his return, doing his secret bidding 
by night and day! 

“ Only send a list of every letter he writes to this 
address, and every other thing I should know! ” said 
Raoul, as they returned from their passionate good- 
by. 

Julian little knew how keen a spy followed his every 
movement in the week after Raoul’s departure. But 
he was serenely content 

“ Mr. Mont Brun,” escorted by “ Texas Dave ” 
down to Santa Fe, was to double around by Las 
Vegas and Trinidad, and reach New York, awaiting 
there his brother’s arrival. 

Having verified the land grants at Santa Fe, after 
personally watching the workings of the ore at New- 
ark, Raoul was to go over to Paris and supervise the 
workings there, while Julian did the same at London. 

And then, armed with full knowledge, before them 
lay the final mental game of wits with the avaricious 
monopolist, Ambroise Larue! 

“ Safe in London, I shall be ready t6 give you my 

L«fC UtfC. 


JOO 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


opinion, when you have finished your task there,” 
said Raoul. 

" And I will be soon there, ready with the deeds for 
one full tenth of the Bear Valley Copper Mine! ” re- 
marked Julian, as he handed Raoul his cheque for 
a thousand pounds in payment of his fee, and intrust- 
ed him with a thousand pounds more for company's 
expenses. 

But one comforting hint would the tyrannical ex- 
pert volunteer. “ If we work Larue rightly, you will 
soon be a budding Rothschild ! ” 

And so, Julian saw the two men depart with a secret 
joy. 

Turning to his duties with Senor Don Andres Ar- 
mijo, the crafty Englishman was only happy when 
the return of “ Texas Dave ” told him of Raoul’s one 
night spent at Caliente, one day at Santa Fe, and 
then he read, with joy, the dispatch that the freight had 
all been received in New York, and that Raoul was 
flying eastwardly, having passed Trinidad! 

The complacent Londoner little dreamed of Lis- 
chen’s keen-eyed spying, of Raoul’s secret intelligence 
agent in old Francois Duval, the Caliente watch- 
maker. 

But, two weeks later, the Frenchman laughed, in 
his cozy rooms, at the Astor House. 

“ Lischen is a jewel, poor devil! She shall have a 
few months of comfort, and I’ll hunt up the child 
whom she yearns for! ” 

For he knew, through her, that the crafty Julian had 
already mailed several letters to Ambroise Larue, the 
world-known metallurgist. 

“ He would betray me, the cold-hearted brute! ” 
laughed the younger brother. “ I will pay him off 
all at once! ” 

Raoul’s telegram from Trinidad, New Mexico, to 
the waiting Laure had brought him a sheaf of letters 
from that villa on the Parc de Fontainebleau! 

“ Richepin must keep him in France, this vicious, 
degenerate aristocrat, until we have finished with our 
Sheffield affair. We must get the process! I must 
play fair till tlien. I will have my two weeks in Paris! 
Sir Aubrey must not die until we are back in the 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


IOI 


Painted Mountains, and then, Julian Hawtrey, my 
mother shall pay off the old score to your father, 
through you! Of course, Larue will send his own 
agent out to examine all! While he is returning 
Lischen shall help me work a miracle of revenge ! 
These millions shall yet be mine ! ” 







! 


v 


a 





102 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


BOOK II. 

H is Brother’s Keeper. 


chapter VI. 

THE COPPER KING MISS JUDITH LARUE IN 

THE NET. 

None of the scientific employees of the Newark 
Smelting Works suspected the latent abilities of the 
polite young Frenchman who was authorized by 
“ Captain ” David Ross, of Rio Arriba County, New 
Mexico, to follow every process of the reduction of the 
copper ores whose character and value had attracted 
much attention. 

Raoul Hawtrey grimly smiled when the astute own- 
er of the works called the young stranger into his 
office, where a French interpreter defined the smelter’s 
offer. “ I will give you five thousand dollars cash for 
the information of where this hidden mine is ! Ten 
thousand if you will locate, for me, an adjoining claim ! 
I will send my son out with you ! ” 

Raoul sighed, for he was thrifty and fond of money 
for the sake of the luxury-purveying power of gold ! 
He merely shook his head and gravely answered : “ I 

do not even know the State where it comes from ! ” 

“ Texas Dave,” by artful marking and roundabout 
transhipment, had thoroughly disguised the real point 
of shipment ! 

“ They would kill me — Ross and Julian — if I tried 
to lead others into the Painted Mountains! I must 
wait ! Fortune must come to me ! And — in the long 
race — it is between Julian and I — a silent fight to the 
death ! ” 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


103 


Gaylv plunging into New York’s night pleasures, 
Raoul awaited Julian’s arrival with the sealed working 
returns of the five tons of his own samples, unopened, 
in his pocket ! 

But, the smelter’s offer of a hundred dollars a ton 
for all such. ore, finally raised to a hundred and thirty, 
told of the commercial value of the Bear Valley Cop- 
per Mine’s product. 

“ Our profit is in the twenty dollars a ton for work- 
ing,” frankly said the owner, “ and, of course, a cer- 
tain general percentage which increases our saving of 
fugitive gold, silver, and platinum.” 

Thirsting with a true Frenchman’s homesickness 
for the boulevards, Raoul impatiently awaited Julian’s 
arrival ! It was now the third week in October, and 
Julian still lingered at Caliente and Santa Fe. 

In his unrestrained gayety, the plotting son of Aglae 
de Montbrun revolved a hundred plans of reaching 
Ambroise Larue before Julian could reach Sheffield 
with him ! 

“ If I were only there,” he mused; “ but, I dare not 
leave New York! I will only own one-tenth of that 
mine after Julian has deeded it to me in London ! ” 

Yet, a sheer self-protective policy forbade him to use 
the telegraph or pen a line to the owner of the exclu- 
sive patent! Even in his intercourse with Laure, he 
had merely telegraphed to her his intended return, and 
written that he had been diverted to some professional 
affairs in the steel regions, having given, up all the 
Western tour, for lack of sufficient inducement! “ I 
must keep a gulf between her and Julian now! By 
God ! He is even capable of marrying her, to get Sir 
Aubrey out of the way ! For, as his wife, she would 
not be able to testify against him ! She must not 
know of the mine ! He must not be able to use her 
against me ! I can, only, across the open grave of Sir 
Aubrey, keep these two apart ! After she slays this 
fool, I can chase her back into the arms of Abbas and 
Veronville! She will gain a rich plunder from her 
dupe Milord Aubrey ! ” 

In all this, Raoul was astounded to receive an im- 
perative cablegram to proceed at once to Paris and fin- 
ish the separate working there of the two five-to.. lois 


io4 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


of the ore, passing through London and urging on the 
same work there ! 

“ Reserve one ton of each lot for our Sheffield ex- 
periments,” was the strange injunction which startled 
the young engineer. “ Keep it in the hands of the 
three different firms. Take the other samples with 
you from New York and, store ‘ to my order,’ at Liver- 
pool! ” 

“ Damn him ! He has heard from Ambroise Larue 
by cable ! ” growled Raoul, as he thought of the five 
extra tons finally prepared as a working deposit for 
the great Larue. “ He does not trust me with a loose 
p'ound of the ore ! ” 

Still wondering, Raoul proceeded to the steamship 
office. He decided to take the steamer for Havre 
•direct, after cabling to London to hasten the working 
of the ore. 

“ I can send the reserved five tons as sealed freight 
to Liverpool, and hold the bill of lading and storage 
receipt. I’ll hasten to Paris' slip over to Sheffield, 
and then — appear and wait for him at London ! I 
may outwit him now ! ” 

Julian, when he received the engineer’s answer, 
dated New York, Tuesday, October 16, “ Sail Satur- 
day on French steamer direct; await you at London; 
orders all executed,” little dreamed that honest “ Texas 
Dave ” had carried, when he rode express, with the 
outward message, a copy of Larue’s cablegram, sent to 
Franqois Duval by the watchful Lischen ! 

The sly woman had noted the exultation of Julian 
when he read the messenger’s telegram ! It was easy 
for her to steal the hunting-coat of the Englishman as 
he was locked up, the next morning, for his private tub. 

With trembling fingers, she copied it! “ They would 
kill me if they knew of this ! ” the desperate woman 
sighed ; but, Franqois Duval, artfully stealing up to 
Tres Piedras, telegraphed the contents of the stolen 
cablegram to Raoul at New York! 

“ So, you have lied to me, swindled me, and already 
betrayed me ! ” raged Raoul, when Lischen’s dispatch 
reached him. 

“ By Fleavens ! She is a rare bird ! ” He read the 
words of the proof of the mine’s value from Sheffield : 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


105 


“ Will take one-half of mine, furnish one million 
dollars working capital, and share monopoly of patent 
for the territory with you, privately, if mv secret agent 
confirms your letters. Come on at once.” 

“ Ah ! The sly scoundrel ! ” mused Raoul, as he 
noted that the dispatch referred to no location, county, 
nor even the character of the mine. “ I will take a 
hand in this game of wit at long range ! French brain 
against English brawn ! ” 

And then, in pursuance of a rapidly formed plan. 
Raoul Hawtrey exchanged his tickets, quietly sailed 
on the Liverpool express steamer under another name, 
leaving his departure to be published in the list of the 
passengers of the “ Gascogne.” 

But, true to his unfaltering pursuit of a future glit- 
tering reward, “ Monsieur Mont Brun ” sent a single 
clause to the Hotel de 1’Aigle at Suresnes, which 
brought the blood leaping wildly to Laure Duvernay’s 
heart. 

“ Sail to-day. Raoul ” was the magic talisman 
which opened the paradise in her dreams to the wait- 
ing woman ! 

Down along the columned years, Laure Duvernay 
saw herself moving on in wealth, jewel-decked — the 
mistress of Combermere ! 

“ Lady Hawtrey,” she murmured that next day, as 
she swept through the Parc, in her superb landau, 
stealing away from that fretful, querulous debauchee 
who clutched at her gown and murmured “ Don’t 
leave me, Laure! Stay! By Jove! I’ll give you 
carte blanche! You must not quit me! ” 

A thousand schemes were revolved in the young 
Frenchman’s mind as he paced the deck of the “ Au- 
rania,” swiftly cleaving her way over the darkened 
waters. 

It was no light-minded squire of dames who sat 
alone in the smoking-room, rolling his Syrian cigar- 
ettes, but, a sinewy, bronzed, hawk-eyed adventurer, 
with his heart nerved to anything! 

The Polytechnique graduate was aware that he had 
achieved a substantial fortune by his unceasing profes- 
sional energy in the quest ! “A tenth of what there is 
there,” he mused, “ is enough for any man ! But, there 


io6 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


^is behind and beyond this, the sweet revenge of a whole 
‘life! ” 

Before him, lay a long future. With gold, he would 
have the power of unlimited enjoyment ; but, with a 
certain hiatus in the line of succession, he saw himself 
planted in Sir Aubrey’s shoes ! 

“ To be master of Combermere, I would walk over 
Julian’s grave — this clumsy-handed brute who could 
not wait to betray me like Judas, but sold me out in 
advance both by letter and cable! There must be 
some way to outwit him ! ” 

And, singularly enough, the chatter of a couple of* 
California mine manipulators going over to London 
to shear those fat-witted sheep, the British investors, 
gave him the needed cue ! 

They were boasting of old “ turns ” on the “ Big 
Board” in San Francisco, in the golden Bonanza Days! 
“ I think that I may venture to try that ! ” he mused, 
as he returned to the perusal of his mother’s diary. 
He had deposited that sacred testament of a lifelong 
hatred in the French Consulate-General at New York, 
much to the discomfiture of the sly Julian Hawtrey. 

For, the English Cain had adroitly searched all the 
luggage of the intending French Cain during those 
three weeks in Bear Valley ! He had bribed the light- 
fingered clerk Eschenbach at the ranch headquarters 
to slyly examine even the sleeping man’s garments, 
but only to find that “ Mr. de Mont Brun ” had 
brought no papers with him ! 

“I’ll get them yet!” bluffly decided Julian. “Of 
course, we'll come back here with Larue’s expert ! I 
can easily detain Monsieur Raoul at the ranch for a 
while ! With ‘ Texas Dave ’ away, this fellow Eschen- 
bach will have some drunken Mexican kill this French 
dancing-master for fifty pesos ! ” 

It had never occurred to the bull -headed English 
athlete that his younger brother might have some 
lurking designs of his own ! 

But. he would have shuddered, could he have seen 
Raoul’s face as he read the faded leaves, where cry for 
vengeance tingled in the maddened Frenchman’s soul ! 

There was the history of the double pursuit of the 
helpless Aglae de Montbrun by the two English kins- 


BROUGHT TO BAY. ‘ I07 f 

men ! Sir Everard Hawtrey had forced himself uponM 
her, brutally, as an “ intending purchaser,” and onlyCf 
an awakened self-love, a competitive lust, a cold per-jf 
sonal vanity, had swept Colonel Reginald Hawtrey on 
into the imprudent and fatal marriage ! 

Raoul’s bosom heaved as he read of the husband’s 
jealous violence, of his maltreatment of the mother 
despoiled of her eldest, of the cold sneers at his wife’s 
artistic devotion, her intellectual enthusiasm. 

And then, the meeting with the chivalric Marquis de 
Yerneuil had finally embittered husband and wife tp 
the last ! The openly expressed doubts as to the par- 
entage of the younger son had brought Maurice de 
Yerneuil and Colonel Reginald Hawtrey face to face, 
a la barrftre. 

When the Englishman recovered from the long 
sickness due to a severe chest wound, he found that his 
beautiful wife and the second child had disappeared ! 

And now, Raoul Hawtrey knew why his youth had 
been so sadly lonely ! 

For, it was years before the death of Colonel Reg- 
inald Hawtrey left the devoted Yerneuil free to marry 
the woman whose hancT he had kissed in a dying 
fervor ! 

And so, legally adopted as the son of the Marquis 
de Yerneuil, acknowledged by law so as to receive the 
transmittal of the Chateau Verneuil at San Felicien, 
Raoul Hawtrey asked himself that question which no 
son dares to frame in words to even the meanest of 
women ! 

“ Am I de Verneuirs son, or the spawn of this dead 
English martinet?” 

The lithe Frenchman bounded to his feet ! “ I am a 

de Yerneuil ! • I feel it in every throb of my heart ! 
And yet, for the sake of my mother’s honor, I will go 
on as a Hawtrey, to the last ! ” 

He appreciated the delicate chivalry which had fol- 
lowed his own younger years ! His course at the 
Polytechnique proved the Marquis’s hidden interest, 
and — the frosty old French noble had left it to his wife 
to give to her second son, the child of her heart, the 
secret of his parentage ! 

A glimpse of a lean, old man, stately and courteous, 


108 BROUGHT TO BAY. 

a red rosette in his buttonhole ; a sweet memory of a 
dark-haired woman, proud-eyed and beautiful, at the 
public “Examens” of the Polytechnique, told him how 
true de Verneuil had been to the courtesies of an old- 
time code now dead and buried in “ modern progress.” 

A smile of triumph wreathed Raoul’s pitiless lips as 
he locked the diary away. “ I am free to accept the 
adoption and live as the Marquis de Verneuil ! He 
was a chevalier sans peur et sans reproche ! My 
mother's lover-husband ! But, only after my venge- 
ance will I return to France ! Wherever this son, 
stolen away as a living proof of my mother’s adultery., 
a lying witness, crosses my path, I will foil him, be it 
for name, wealth, or woman’s love ! ” 

For, he recognized the craft with which Colonel 
Hawtrev had sent his eldest child to England, on the 
pretense that the actress-mother was “ no fit person to 
have charge of her own child ” ! 

The singular obscurity of his boyhood, old Achille 
Duprat’s practical tutelage, was now explained by the 
loving devotion of the woman who did not wish de 
Verneuil and Hawtrev to meet in a second duel d 
Voutrance! 

“ She gave me a legal name and estate, and saved 
her own reputation, by those patient years passed 
alone in retirement at San Felicien with the Marquis 
Maurice ! Death broke the chains which bound her ! 
There is but another death wanting to avenge these 
long years of dishonor ! ” 

Not a passenger on the great liner knew of the dark 
designs of the young Frenchman who so quietly 
dropped off the London train at Sheffield. But he 
lingered not in the smoky Yorkshire huddle of work- 
shops. 

Even the confidential secretary of that great finan- 
cier Ambroise Larue had no inkling of the stranger’s 
business ! 

Dashing on through London, Raoul Hawtrey, the 
very moment he reached French soil at Calais, cabled 
his arrival to his tricked brother, now in close confer- 
ence with great financiers in New York City! 

For, Don Andres Armijo had invoked the aid of 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


109 


American financiers to float the clearing of the finances 
of the embarrassed Cattle Company. 

Busied at New York with lawyers, money brokers, 
and wading through the formalities of the English 
Consulate, Julian Hawtrey was happy in effecting the 
saving of his past investments and the triumphant re- 
vamping of the imperiled investment in the unsuccess- 
ful bovine venture. 

“Now for the crown of a Copper King!” gayly 
laughed Julian, as he sent hi? last telegram back to 
“ Texas Dave,” who was vigorously pushing the prep- 
arations for his marriage wMi that marvel of frontier 
pulchritude, Miss Hannah Maverick! 

“ T am ready for you ! ” smilingly mused Raoul, now 
happily domesticated once more at the Hotel de 
l’Aigle, in cozy Sures :es, when he received Julian’s 
telegraphed note of warn r.g as to his own arrival. 

. In the Banque de France lay, sealed., the agreement 
of Ambroise Larue to deliver to the Marquis de Yer- 
n.cuil (through Rapid Hawtrey, his agent and attor- 
ney - ) one-half interest in the monopoly of the Larue 
copper-reduction patented processes for the County of 
Rio Arriba, in New Mexicp, in return for an agree- 
ment to deHver to the said Larue one-twentieth of the 
Bear Valley Copper Mine. 

The millionaire had not waited a single moment to 
close the bargain ! 

“If von get one-half, as you will, this one-twentieth 
(one-half of my interest) gives you a complete control 
of the mine.” Raoul had frankly proved to the old Bel- 
gian’s satisfaction. 

“ You can fix vour reduction prices as high as you 
wish, for the richer you make yourself in that, the 
richer you make me ! ” 

And then, Raoul Hawtrey had deliberately opened 
the sealed certificates of the Newark Smelting Com- 
pany and given to the delighted millionaire the official 
returns of the working! 

“ It will be a princely fortune ! ” cried the gray- 
headed Belgian. “ But, this will be detected — the open- 
ing of these sealed papers ! ” 

“Bah!” complacently remarked Raoul, “ twenty 


no 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


francs for a new seal, in Paris, will soon fix that little 
detail ! I have the duplicates to model from ! ” 

When their secret partnership was signed, Raoul 
exhibited to the astonished Sheffield magnate the copy 
of his telegram. “ You see I was armed at all points! 
Silence and Division is our motto ! ” 

Before Julian Hawtrey reached England, Larue was 
in possession of the telegraphed results of the second 
Paris workings. 

And so, tfie crafty old fellow dissembled with Julian 
on his furtive visit, and dignifiedly remarked : “ Bring 
me your expert and your working assays, and we will 
then, go into the affair ! ” 

This was known at once to the man who was loath 
to tear himself now from Laure Duvernay’s encircling 
arms. For, that happy siren had stolen away from the 
Parc de F'ontainebleu for a week’s visit “ to her sister ” 
in Lyons. 

“ I. must go over to London for a fortnight,” sighed 
Raoul, as he pledged her, in golden wine. “ Then, 
after one more trip, a paradise of life and love awaits 
you ! Hold Sir Aubrey in vour net, you Queen of 
.Spiders, and wait my return from England ! For he 
shall build the pyramid of your golden fortunes ! ” 

And so, the brothers, crafty and false, met in Lon- 
don. 

Raoul Hawtrey was perfectly prepared to continue 
his hidden game of wits with his saturnine brother 
when the young Frenchman arrived at Julian’s cham- 
bers in London. 

Keenly suspicious, Julian had invited his agent and 
engineer to share his chambers in London during their 
brief stay. 

“ I would like you to remain, as Raoul de Montbrun,” 
said Julian, after their first dinner, “ at least until we 
have financed the Bear Valley Copper Company. You 
can use a week to advantage here in seeing the Lon- 
don assavers and samplers work out your four t ,;r 
graded ore in an actual test! Soames will take you 
over there to-morrow ! ” 

“And, as to Ambroise Larue?” questioned R.xv 
with a secret misgiving; for he feared the " doimic 
cross ” of the two heavv owners. 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


Ill 


“ I’ve studied that all over! ” seriously said Julian. 
“ It will take me a week to finish my detailed reports 
to the New Mexico Cattle Company. I may even 
wish you to go down as Monsieur de Montbrun and 
give them your ocular witness as to the country, the 
grade of Armijo’s sheep, and that whole operation ! ” 

“ Certainly ! ” said Raoul, politely. 

“ Then, I will telegraph down for our — 
now at Liverpool,” said Julian. “ You and I together 
will go to Sheffield, armed with your rant, .. . 
working returns, as well as the Newark reports. Our 
reserve of a ton at the two Paris places, one here lik. 
the same kept by Larue, will enable him later to sample 
these altogether and get a standard of the ore ! 

'* I’ve thoroughly gone into Larue’s whole sur- 
roundings ! He is our man. and the value of his pat- 
ented process is incontestable! You must satisfy him 
as to the general conditions. You will watch him 
work the ores ; you will hold secret the French, Lon- 
don, and American results until he has certified his 
own ! You are to be the sole scientific defender of the 
interests of Ross and myself. I will handle Larue 
alone in the business negotiations ; then, jointly, wc 
will take his final conditions ! I will legally transfer 
the tenth of the mine to you when you come down to 
our offices. I have my solicitors making out the pa- 
pers now ! ” 

Both the acute schemers were well pleased, fo. 
Raoul was able to impart the remarkable fact that the 
differentiated samples from the four-ton lots workc 
in Newark and the two Parisian laboratories had not 
varied five per cent, in results. 

“ How could they? ” triumphantly demanded Raoul. 
“ I took twenty face-samples of the exposed ledge, 
equally divided from top, bottom, and. middle along the 
mile and a half, and twenty others from the same three 
relative depths of the vein as pierced by the twent - 
shafts. This gives one hundred and twenty grade 1 
samples, of, sav, fifty pounds each. These have been 
shoveled together, mixed for hours, and the five five- 
ton lots are divided of equal parts of the north, mid- 
dle, and south of the ledge. Each four-ton lot worked 
is then ground to pulp, mixed in a mixer for two days, 


I 12 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


spread into squares, shoveled into alternation a dozen 
times, and standard one^gallon measures of the pow- 
der are taken from eaeh of the five tons, these single 
quarts representing, thus, three hundred and sixty ser 
lections, which have been mixed and milled for twg 
days.” 

“ I see no great obstacle, but Larue’s well-known 
avarice ! ” mused Julian Hawtrey, now once more the 
London elegant and clubman, pur sang. “ He has 
a daughter, Judith Larue, who will be one of the fiehr 
est heiresses in the United Kingdom, and, for her, he 
scrapes ihe uttermost farthing. Larue, once a com 
mon workman, wants a title for Mademoiselle Judith. 
He is still a Belgian citizen ! They say the old wid- 
ower dotes upon her, and, that she is a marvel of busi- 
ness acumen.” 

■ ( I venture to suggest,” slowly said Raoul, “ as this 
old skinflint is such a character, that you should keep 
all the working results sealed till he certifies his own 
to us, and then we have something to show him— 
something to cope with him on— something to be a 
measure of the special value of his process ! ” 

“ That’s a royal programme! ” heartily said Julian. 
“ And, to prevent our being in any way spied upon, I 
will let Soames show you London by night ! We will 
keep the • Bear Valley Copper Mine ’ dark until we 
have bagged Larue ! Then,” triumphantly said Julian, 
“ his single name will make it a gilt-edged stock from 
the first.” 

With a panther’s patience, Raoul was an uncon- 
cerned reveler at night, while busied by day until 
Julian Hawtrey, Esq., had knotted up all the loose 
meshes of the Cattle Company’s affair. 

Thoroughly forearmed, the sly Soames never 1 new 
of Raoul’s letters and telegrams to the dainty Com- 
tesse Laure Duvernay. The young engineer earned 
on that perilous correspondence while daily busied at 
the Hercules Reduction Works in Southwark! But, 
apprehensive of a future parting (the doom of all 
guilty lovers), Raoul only confined his communications, 
to mere daily routine, or a general erotic enthusiasm, 
strangely sent with neither address nor signature on 
the sheets. 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


113 

“The anonymous address r.t Suresnes will protect 
me in case of any misadventure in Laure’s affaire dn 
coeur with Sir Aubrey,” mused Raoul, who had pro- 
vided himself with envelopes duly backed by a type- 
writing machine. “ No woman ever publishes her 
lover’s letters ! ” 

There was not a reference to his own identity in any 
of these mechanically amatory epistles. 

With a curious sense of reserved power, Raoul duly 
made his “ speech ” before the now delighted stock- 
holders of the “ Company,” and received a vote of 
thanks, while Julian Hawtrey, Esq., was, by loud ac- 
claim, given the service of silver plate and “ hand- 
somely illuminated resolutions ” which are the V. C. 
and G. C. B. of the rmlitant financier. 

Having shaken the grime of the Hercules Works 
off his handsome features, Raoul, now mentally forti- 
fied on every point, set out to play the winning card 
of his life at the smoky domain of Vulcan in the West 
Riding. 

It was a cheerless November morning when the 
brothers descended from the train, which had dashed 
screaming through the Yorkshire vales, and were 
heartily welcomed at the Royal Victoria Railway Hotel 
in Sheffield. 

The magic of a couple of shilling telegrams had 
brought the last consignment of ore down from Liver- 
pool and warned the watchful capitalist of the arrival 
of the budding Copper King and his engineer. “ Am 
I to go on to the end of the chapter, as Raoul de Mont- 
brun? ” said Raoul, waking up from his French novel, 
as they dashed into the town ! 

“ I think it safest ! ” said the plotting promoter. 
“ Old Larue might be suspicious of any brotherly en- 
thusiasm ! ” 

Their eyes met, and they were abashed; for, the veri- 
est pretense of personal affiliation was useless between 
them. It was as if Julian Hawtrey’s domineering and 
egoistic English father had projected himself into his 
eldest son, and that the passionate, alert, French mother 
lived once more in the bosom of the child of her heart. 

Raoul nodded an assent ! His deed for one-tenth of 
the “ Bear Valley Copper Mine ” was now safe in the 


1 14. BROUGHT TO BAY. 

' Banque de France, and he gravely gathered himself 
together for the last campaign of duplicity ! 

He alone knew that the luckily acquired mine would 
make his brother a money lord ! 

“To marry that girl will be his object ! I suppose 
this heavy swell will make the running here,” mused 
Raoul. “ I will head him off and defeat him — if it 
takes my life ! ” 

" He has caught on ! ” muttered Julian, as Mr. Am- 
brose Larue’s graceful representative, a Belgian engi- 
neer, sent up his card, when the brothers had finished 
their dreary winter repast of chops, sole, and the inev- 
itable eggs, toast, and tea of perfidious Albion ! 

“ Mr. Ambroise Larue had put off all engagements 
to give the gentlemen an hour at his private office in 
the great works. 

As they drove through the Duke of Norfolk’s cheer- 
less domain, where human lives drudge out for mere 
bread and gin, Henri Bremond, the Belgian engineer 
and private expert of the magnate, soon fell into an easy 
camaraderie with Monsieur de Montbrun. 

Julian, pulling at his cheroot, moodily followed the 
chat of the. scientists. For the first time in his life, he 
was relegated to a distinctly secondary place. 

But, he was calmly alert when, within the inner space 
of Larue’s huge hive of industry, they halted before the 
neat separate private office and laboratory of the mas- 
ter mind. 

Around them v/ere fifty acres of scattered forges, 
smelters, and store yards, whose regulated confusion 
seemed like a playground of the Titans. 

Ores, huge masses of iron, copper, and other metals ; 
vast, banks of slag, mountains of coal and coke, with 
droves of begrimed human ants, made up a weird 
picture. 

Everywhere roaring blasts, fiery eyes, gleaming 
furnace-mouths; huge, glowing, misshapen masses 
swinging under rolls or trip-hammer. 

With adroit finesse, Raoul lingered until after Bre- 
mond and Julian had faced the gray-eyed, bullet- 
headed, solid-looking autocrat of the Copper King- 
dom. 

“Ah! Monsieur dc Mcntbrun, very good,” said 


BROUGHT TO BAY. II5 

Larue, with a swift glance from under the shaggy eye- 
brows. “ You will be a working companion with 
Bremond ! I shall follow this thing myself. Now, 
gentlemen, you are both to dine with me at seven. 
Bremond will bring the carriage for you, at six-thirty. 
Now for business ! I have no secrets from Bremond ! ” 
briskly said the Belgian, seating himself at’ a long 
table. 

“ Describe the whole mine ! ” he imperatively said. 

And then, at a nod from Julian, Raoul Hawtrey un- 
rolled his maps, opened his notebook, and, spreading 
out his sketches, spoke as impassively as if in the class- 
room. 

Coolly eyeing his brother, Julian watched every up- 
lifting of Larue’s pencil, as the old man interjected his 
pungent questions, going to the root of every matter 
of inquiry. 

With admirable tact, “ Monsieur de Mont Brun ” 
seated himself, after he had truthfully answered every 
query as to his previous experience and professional 
record. There was yet fifteen minutes to spare when 
Larue broke off the conference. “ It will all depen.i 
upon the ores, and our workings. That will require i 
week. If they hold up, I will send Bremond back \y . 
you at once. 

“Now, gentlemen,” said the millionaire, risk'.;.,. 
“ my daughter will show Captain Hawtrey all the locm 
lions. As for you, Sir, let Bremond go with you and 
verify the seals upon your ores at the railway ware- 
houses. Then, to-morrow, and every day till we are 
done, I expect you from nine to five, in working rig! 
We’ll fit you out here, de Mont Brun, and you shall 
take luncheon with me here ! When I want Captain 
Hawtrey, my solicitors will call on him and take the 
business matters up ! ” 

Ten minutes later, Ambroise Larue, deep in the 
tangles of a million-dollar matter with a committee of 
Birmingham manufacturers, had seemingly forgotten 
the existence of the two visitors. 

But, both Julian and Raoul were secretly satisfied. 
Larue had escorted the new Copper King to the door, 
bustling him off around the great works in charge of 
an exhibitor. 


1 16 BROUGHT TO BAY. 

“ You and I will have our confidential chats at 
‘ The Priory,’ ” suddenly whispered Larue. “ I sup- 
pose your expert is not in interest? ” 

“ Only an employee/’ said Julian, “ to whom I have 
given a small interest! He is to know nothing; but 
he is professionally reliable ! ” 

When Raoul had gone over the superb headquar- 
ters, with *its library, assay rooms, laboratory, testing 
machines, and all the facilities of recondite science, 
Ambroise Larue darted upon them. 

Sending Bremond away, the old man muttered : 
“ You and I can transact our business down in the 
works ! I received all your advance copies of the four 
workings. If this holds out, it is a modern Gol- 
conda ! ” 

With no sign of elation, Raoul set off with Bremond 
to deliver the ore and inspect the seals, while. Julian 
was adroitly sidetracked to the Sheffield Club and the 
champagne luncheon, in charge of Mr. Larue’s social 
manager. 

When the brothers met in the drawing-room of the 
Royal Victoria at six o’clock, the keen-eyed French- 
man noted the peculiarly careful toilet of his elder 
brother. Julian had improved the opportunities of the 
club visit. 

Quickly au fait with the local lions, he had art- 
fully led his hosts out upon museum, library, the Al- 
bert Hall, the romantic memories of Mary Stuart's 
sojourn at Sheffield Manor House, the Yorkshire 
Hunt, and all the “ High Life ” directory of the out- 
lying vicinity. 

But, sleek and crafty, he had picked up the veriest 
detail of Ambroise Larue’s social life ! A carriage 
drive of several hours had made him aware of the 
splendors of the outlying suburb where Mammon had 
set up her marble palaces within bronze and gilded 
gates. 

And yet, for all these fancies, the young men were 
startled at the stately splendor of “ The Priory.” 

The vast hall of Ambroise Larue’s royal villa was 
worthy of the Elizabethan glories of England; but, the 
great drawing-rooms were laden with the spoil of 
either Ind’ — the walls resplendent with the unfading 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


1 17 

colors of genius, and the trophies in plate, medal, 
gleaming star, and glittering order, won by the great 
metallurgist were proudly displayed on tables of mala- 
chite and ormulu. 

Raoul was not surprised to be greeted by Ambroise 
Larue, who, after five o’clock, was absolutely the im- 
passive man of society. 

Grave, watchful, hospitable, the ex- workman bore 
himself with the sedate composure of the haughty 
burghers of the sturdy Netherlands. 

It was only when he raised his eyes to follow the pre- 
sentation that the blood leaped to Raoul’s heart. 

Judith Larue stood before him, a revelation of grace 
and beauty. 

“ A daughter of the gods ! ” flashed through the 
young Gaul’s mind as he fell under the ‘spell of her 
somber and magnificent eyes ! 

And yet, at the princely dinner, served as if the Bel- 
gian hammer man were an Esterhazy or a Demidoff, 
Raoul Hawtrey drifted into a cosmopolitan conversa- 
tion with the host, while Julian, a blond Adonis, was 
soon deep in society matters with the young chatelaine. 

A colorless dame de compagnie, a reticent Belgian 
widow, merely accentuated the startling beauty of the 
only heiress of the Larue millions. 

Raoul Hawtrey was keenly conscious of the furtive 
watch kept upon him by the astonished father, and the 
studied behavior of his society-haunting brother. 

There was even a mild pique in Miss Judith’s mind, 
for Raoul had withdrawn himself into the subordinate. 

And yet, as he underwent the “ rapid-fire gun ” men- 
'. al “ sizing up ” of the great intellect at his side, Raoul. 

ith a burning envy, heard Miss Judith and his hand- 
some brother recall a hundred common friends. 

Julian had pored over the society “ Blue Books.” 
He well knew that Miss Larue had created a sensation 
on her presentation to Her Majesty. 

He knew of the stern pride which kept the self-made 
millionaire even yet a Belgian subject and so prevented 
Ins knighthood, or even, m time, a possible peerage. 

Ambroise Larue was deeply interested in this singu- 
larly modest young engineer. 

ft fell out naturally, after the dinner, that Julian ac- 


n8 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


companied the ladies to the drawing-room, while 
Raoul adjourned to the library with the master of 
• The Priory ” for a confidential tobacco seance. 

'• I can wait! ” grimly resolved the Frenchman, as 
he heard Miss Larue’s superb voice ringing out over 
the notes of the silver-chorded Erard. 

" No one must suspect my game — the one which al- 
ways wins — the waiting game ! ” mused Raoul. 

It was ten o’clock when the discordant brothers 
were driven home in the host’s carriage. The old 
metallurgist accompanied them to the door in simple 
courtesy. He watched the young men depart. “ That 
Mont Brun has an old head — a very old head — on 
young shoulders ! Too many virtues ! ” decided the 
gray old fox. “ But, he is a sound scientist ! ” 

Already a plan had formulated itself in Larue’s busy 
brain ! There was a brilliant dream dazzling Julian 
Hawtrey as he leaned back in silence and puffed his 
deferred cigar. 

Here was a woman of a million, an heiress, a beauty 
—a Nature-molded queen ! “ If I double her father’s 

wealth, why not? ” thought the egoistic ex-Captain of 
Lancers. “ She knows my blood and social rank ! ” 
Raoul was taciturn in the ride to the hotel. 

“ I’ve to be up betimes ! ” he said. “ I presume I 
shall follow out Larue’s orders ? ” 

“Yes! In every particular!” said Julian. “I’ve 
given him an order for the three reserved tons of ore 
at Paris and London. Larue will have Bremond 
watch the Newark firm’s process on our arrival in New 
York. Bremond is to be the sole director of all ; you 
only go back as my private expert, and will work 
under Bremond’s orders! ” 

“ Very good ! ” sharply answered Raoul. “ I will 
see the thing through — to justify my report — and I am 
at your orders ! ” 

But, in the darkened carriage, the Frenchman’s eyes 
flashed fire! “Wait — only wait!” he vowed in his 
tumultuous heart. And yet,, he did not know that two 
persons were busied with his future in gloomy Shef- 
field on this November night. 

Old Larue laughed at his adroit plan to separate 
Julian under young Bremond’s charge. “ I will hasten 


BROUGHT TO BAY. II9 

them off and delay this young fellow ! He shall be my 
secret mainstay in this affair, and, if he prove sound, 
there is a man upon whom my mantle might fall ! I 
can have him all to myself in- the workrooms! Judith 
can busy this, great Guardsman with flower show, fes- 
tival, concert, and society’s twaddle, while I exploit 
this Polytechnique eleve.” 

While he smoked his Syrian cigarette alone, Raoul 
Hawtrey was dreaming of the startling beauty of the 
woman whom he had so courteously ignored in favor 
of his social superior. 

He recalled every line of the statuesque form ; the 
dark, earnest face with its clear, brown tint ; those 
superbly somber eyes, and the rich coronal of hair 
sweeping over the shoulders of a Venus de Milo. 

Judith Larue brought with her an air of the palace ; 
her glowing, ripe, womanly beauty was fit to be set in 
the splendid interior of the history-haunted palaces of 
Egmont and of Horn. 

Raoul learned later of the life quest of the mil- 
lionaire. 

A new Quentin Matsvs, he had lifted himself to 
marry one in whose veins the rarest Flemish blue 
blood mingled with the fiery strains of Alva’s bravest 
Castilian cavalier. 

And, accustomed to conquer at sight, that night, as 
Judith Larue sat listlessly, her maid unwinding the 
pearls from her mistress’s hair, the heiress thought of 
the silent young Frenchman with a singular curiosity ! 

“ His face was as calm as the bust of the young 
Augustus, but his eyes were speaking — pleading — 
thrilling! There is a diamond intellect, this man 
whose silence has been the highest reserved compli- 
ment ! 1 will show Captain Hawtrey a bit of our 

Yorkshire life, but — of this other man, I will know 
more ! ” 

And the dull English November sun swung around 
for a week, until there was no longer an excuse for 
Raoul being locked up in the testing-rooms with the 
old magician. 

Bremond had returned from convoying back the 
scattered samples of reserved ore, and. while f' lling 
deeper daily under Judith’s imperious spell, Julian 


120 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


Hawtrey auxiously awaited the summons to that con- 
ference with the old monopolist which he secretly 
dreaded. 

He was disturbed by Raoul’s reticence. The young- 
er brother merely reported his a'ssistance given to 
Larue, contenting himself with explanation and an- 
swer. 

Julian was wearied of the glories of the parish 
church, the beauties of St. Mary’s, the ostentation of 
Town Hall, Cutler’s Hall, Corn Exchange, the sub- 
urban drives, the exploitation of the Norfolk Market, 
the dull assembly rooms, the spiritless theaters, and 
the vapid round of afternoon gayeties. 

As for the woman whom he had marked for his own, 
he was plante la.” 

His sound sense told him that the million must drift 
into the old man’s hands before he dared enact The 
Conquering Hero! “ I must be a Copper King, in 
truth, before she will wear my crown! ” 

The complacent suitor little knew how many squires 
had knelt to this regally minded beauty! 

And, in truth, Judith’s bosom was unstirred save by 
her desire to follow out the brilliant young French- 
man’s nature! For her father’s enthusiasm knew no 
bounds ! And his lovely and beloved child was Am- 
brose Larue’s only confidant. 

They had lingered along for ten days, when Julian 
called Raoul into hiS own room for a serious business 
conference. The you^er man had showed no sign of 
irritation when he had 1 rued over all the sealed as- 
says at his brother’s call. 

And now for three days, Raoul, his work done, had 
been privately inspecting ' the dingy city, while the 
crafty Julian was closeted with Larue in the private 
office. 

“ I have done the best I can,” bluntly said Julian. 
“ Here is what we have arrived at! Larue will send 
Bremond out in sole charge of all. He offers to take 
one-half the mine for two hundred thousand pounds 
working capital paid in, and all the preliminary ex- 
penses. This comes, evenly, from Dave Ross and my- 
self. Bremond is to send five hundred tons of ore 
here for a final working, at Larue’s expense. 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


I 2 I 


“ He receives this output in return for advancing all 
the preliminaries. I have cabled to Ross to have fifty 
Mexicans go up, under his command, and to get out 
fifteen tons of the ore from each of the forty workings 
we opened up. Bremond will sample it there, ship it. 
confirm your reports, and on this working out up to 
our averages, Larue opens the mine in the spring, and 
will have it in full blast before the fall ! ” 

Julian studied Raoul’s impassive face in vain. 

“ This makes Larue the largest stockholder,” he 
said. “ How about the results ! ” 

“ There is Larue’s working return. His process 
brings out an average of thirty-five dollars a ton above 
our other four workings ! And for his patent process 
he asks, personally, one-half of the extra saving over 
the other systems, say twenty dollars a ton. You 
can go down and go over the whole thing to-morrow 
with the old capitalist ! I told him to show you all ! ” 

“ And, where do I stand in the expedition ? ” quietly 
said Raoul. 

“ You are to receive two thousand pounds and your 
expenses for six months’ services! Your interest will 
finally make you rich ! And, as you will not be needed 
in New York with Bremond and I, you can run over to 
Paris, settle your affairs, and join us at the Astor 
House, coming over in the French steamer ! ” 

“ All right ! I accept ! ” said Raoul. “ Have you 
heard from Dave Ross ? ” 

“Yes!” laughed Julian. “There’s his answer by 
cable : ‘ All ready on your arrival, you bet ! ’ ” 

“ Sneaking hound ! ” was Raoul’s comment, as he 
sauntered away. But, the handsome French brother 
had two trump cards up his sleeve! 

Miss Judith Larue had driven the young engineer . 
all around the citadels of wealth, and her softened voice 
and shining eyes told him that the proud woman could 
stoop to conquer. 

“ I have no secrets from mv father! We shall meet 
again ! ” she said, laughingly, with her finger on her 
lip. And the younger brother grimly smiled that 
afternoon when Larue handed him his legal license 
and partnership papers for the use of the patent. ‘ I’ll 
start them off, my boy ! ” he said. “ Go over and have 


122 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


a- week’s run in Paris! Come bac' her'* qtne ly. I 
will have you as a guest, at the house. Then, I’ll give 
vou your orders ! You can catch them in New York ! 

“ Now! I have him! ” smiled Raoul, as he bowed 
his silent assent. 


CHAPTER VII. 

Julian’s new ally — ambroise larue’s instruc- 
tions THE RALLYING AT NEW YORK SIR AU- 

brey’s RAPID DECLINE laure’s COMPACT. 

Jealous-eyed as two wrestlers struggling for a hold, 
still the parting between the brothers at Sheffield was 
seemingly devoid of all feeling. 

“ Shall I hear from you in London? ” said Raoul. 

“ No! ” carelessly replied Julian. “ I will only run 
down for a day! I leave Soames in charge! He fears 
to go out to America! There will be some last mat- 
ters with the Cattle Company, and then, I return here. 
Bremond and I take the next Saturday express! I 
only ask your secrecy and silence! ” 

“ You will find that I am no talker! ” grimly re- 
joined Raoul. “And, I am still to be Monsieur de 
Mont Brun?” 

“ To the end of the chapter — that is, till the ‘ Bear 
Valley’ is a success! After that, do as you please! 
By the way, here’s Larue’s cheque for your six 
months’ engagement, with five hundred pounds for 
expenses. So you will not need to see or correspond 
with him — till our return! He will, I suppose, pick 
out finally the manager! ” 

“I’m not a candidate!” laughed Raoul. “When 
I’m rich, I’ll live in Paris! I understand all your or- 
ders! ” 

“ Devilish strange! ” mused Julian. “ He’s a right 
ardent chap after women, and yet, he never seemed 
to notice Judith! ” 

With what automatic self-deception the egotist 
turned away to arrange his plans to have two days 
of social solitude before his departure with the woman 

who wos to cro"": V: ’ifc! 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


123 


But, Raoul Hawtrey, as he was being whirled on to 
Paris, lost no time in following his hated brother’s 
footsteps. He had only to await Larue’s telegram 
of the sailing of the advance guard to return to Shef- 
field. 

“ Thank Heaven for their delay at Newark! It will 
give me a needed furlough ! ” was the young en- 
gineer’s inward comment. “ I have nothing to do 
but to let this crafty old Larue play Julian as a fool 
to the top of his bent! Quant a Mademoiselle Ju- 
dith, she is like the lovely, shy antelope — all pursuit 
is vain! But, let the red banner on a wand once attract 
her curiosity, then, step by step, the lovely quarry will 
steal out of hiding, and come within my reach! ” 

But one disturbing cloud lingered over Julian Haw- 
trey’s future when he hastened back to Sheffield, 
after his last rally of the happy “ Sheep Owners,” 
now buoyant with rosy dreams of future success! 
The monetary strain had been lifted from Julian’s im- 
periled estate! For, on the ratification of Don Andres 
Armijo, the New Mexico Cattle Company’s shares 
had bounded upward on the market. 

With a quiet craft Julian had marketed all his hold- 
ings, and now stood clear on the Stock Exchange 
with a cool twenty thousand pounds to his credit! 

It had been a wonderfully successful campaign! 
The yet uncrowned Copper King was astounded at 
the social disappearance of Sir Aubrey Hawtrey. 

In vain, he had called at “ Brooke’s,” the “ Reform,” 
and even at Sir Aubrey’s splendid town apartment. 
The club stewards could only say that the absentee’s 
mail was forwarded. 

At Messrs. Glvn, Carr & Glyn’s, these estimable 
bankers flatly declined to give an address. 

“ Sir Aubrey is on the Continent traveling, and 
our Paris agents forward all! We never give a 
client’s address unless directed! ” 

Driven to desperation, Julian sent the astute 
Soames on a flying trip to Combermere, and even 
the expenditure of a ten pound note brought no news 
farther than that the Baronet was on his travels. 

“ Damn him! If he would only die! ” growled Ju- 
lian, as he thought it over, on his way back to Shef- 


124 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


field. “ Then, I would have something to offer Judith! 
An old baronetcy, one of the finest Elizabethan places 
in England, a tidy rent-roll, and — by Jove — perhaps 
a peerage in the future! For, when spinners and 
brewers go up to the Upper House, why not a Copper 
King? ” 

A mad project of asking Raoul to look up the Bar- 
onet for a moment tempted Julian. 

“No! I’ll Jet that alone!” he decided. 

And yet, urged on by a growing hatred of the 
whole guilty past, moved by an indefinable impulse, 
Julian Hawtrey had sent on, by packet post, to Paris 
the picture of “ La Mysterieuse,” which had annoyed 
him at every glimpse! 

The sending was perfectly anonymous, and it was 
a carefully laid trap! 

“ I dare not destroy it! ” mused the resentful son. 
“Aubrey might call the matter up later, if he lives! 
This French fellow may mention it to me! It will 
be a test of his sincerity! If he does speak of it, I’ll 
be politely interested! If he does not, then I will 
know that he has hidden the whole story from me! ” 

Too conscious of Sir Aubrey’s past “ disappear- 
ances,” usually due, to some new reigning divinity 
in that voluptuary’s mind, Julian felt that his kins- 
man’s whereabouts was a sealed book to the public. 

“ I only hope that he will soon turn up his toes! ” 
was the wrathful speculator’s adjuration. 

But, he sighed as he recalled the banker’s guarded 
statement that “ Sir Aubrey was in his usual health! ” 

For all this, in the two days of a Fool’s Paradise, 
lingering reluctant with Judith Larue, Julian Hawtrey 
took heart of grace, and meaningly told the imperial 
beauty of his proximate accession to the honors of 
the house of Hawtrey. 

With kindling glances, the Lady of the Somber 
Eyes heard the most passionate and ardent of her 
suitors. 

At last she thrilled him with a glance. 

“ When your ship comes in, when you are the Cop- 
per King, when you have gained my father’s confi- 
dence by bringing him into this magnificent property, 
come back to me! You shall have a fair field! ” 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


125 


“ And, you will wait ? ” eagerly cried the excited 
Guardsman. 

“ There is no other! ” said Judith, holding her hand 
but frankly, as to a subject. 

And, forced to, be content with this, Julian Hawtrey , 
was fain to resign himself to Ambroise Larue’s dry 
business campaign, as laid out forcibly before the im- 
passive Bremond and the young man. 

“ Rather singular, isn’t it? ” demanded Julian, when 
Larue notified him that Bremond would take out a 
twenty thousand pound life insurance, in the favor 
of his master, in New York, written on the life of 
the budding Copper King. 

“Not so!” impassively remarked the millionaire. 

“ I throw away a hundred thousand dollars in these 
preliminaries! If you should die, I could not get 
vour title to the mine — there would be no one to 
carry out your agreement — and so, I pay the fi^st 
vear’s premium on you, only to insure my prelimi- 
nary outlay! ” 

“ I am in your hands! ” gravely said Julian, “but I 
wish to earn you a fortune, and not, this blood money!” 

“ It is a matter of mere cold precaution! ” said 
the financier. “ and, by no means unusual in such large 
operations! ” 

. When Julian Hawtrey stepped on the steamer at 
Liverpool, he looked forward to the golden crown 
awaiting him in the far West, secure in all his crafty 
precautions. 

“ There’s one good thing,” he murmured, as he 
settled himself in the smoking-room. “ I have out- 
witted this sly French brother of mine! He has no 
hold on the enterprise; he has not been able to gain 
n n intimacy with Larue, and he is as blind as a bat 
to all the lovely Judith’s attractions! When he has 
finished his professional work, I will drop him! He 
shall get his dividends only at the hands of old 
Larue! ” 

And, Raoul Hawtrey’s dark-eyed accomplice 
brought a wild flush of triumph to the eyes of her 
lover that very day, as they sat hidden in the Hotel 
de l’Aigle, at Suresnes. 

“ Richepin is only keeping him alive for the fees 


126 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


and the huge honorarium! Sir Aubrey is helpless 
in my hands now! He will not live three months! 

( )ne heavy debauch will kill him! He can not, he, 
shall not, he must not, leave France! After the in- 
evitable, Richepin will take all the legal responsi- 
bility! ” 

And then flashed over the young lover’s mind, the 
secret hold which he had gained upon Ambroise La- 
rue, the evident leaning toward himself of the som- 
ber-eyed beauty, the strange balance of power so 
craftily effected in the Bear Valley Company. 

Larue’s private orders to Bremond to return at 
once, and leave Julian and Mons. de Mont Brun to 
await instructions flashed before the plotter. 

“ One single daring stroke, and I can cut my way 
to her side,! ” 

With lying protestations of love, he lulled Laure 
Duvernay, the guilty dupe of his villainy, as he 
planned his visit to Mulhausen. 

“ Lischen will aid me to my vengeance! She shall 
meet her child again! This woman will pay herself 
for her work ! But, Lischen’s help I need, when I pay 
off the old score of the past out there at Coyote! I 
will show Julian Hawtrey a little bit of * experimental 
chemistry! ’ It is the quietest, safest, surest friend 
of man, my volatile chemical Ariel, who grips the 
heart in any icy vice! ” 

Raoul Hawtrey was perfectly satisfied with all the 
future aspects of his life, as he sped away upon his 
secret journey. 

It was only a twelve hours’ run to the quaint old 
Alsatian town of Mulhausen, bowered up on its island 
between the 111, the Rhine, and the Rhine Canal. He 
had sent out a private agent who for a hundred francs 
had given him a neat precis of the situation. 

Secure now in his assured competency, the hand- 
some young Frenchman, as he lay back at ease in his 
compartment, en premier , balanced the advantages of 
two widely different lives. 

“ I can count upon enough income from my tenth 
of the mine and the private dividends from Larue’s 
patent to uild my Parisian life as the Marquis de 
Verneuil! ” 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


I2 7 


And then, the romantic history of the two patient 
lovers called him back to dreamy San Felicien, where 
the old Chateau de Verneuil had been the theater of 
his foster-father’s self-devotion. 

And yet, there was one cloud upon this future, for 
Larue Duvernay would surely follow him up to the 
last! He had gained the whole confidence of the 
beautiful adventuress, who was glad to return to the 
querulous Sir Aubrey. 

For, in his varying moods ; the bitter-hearted Eng- 
lish aristocrat showered presents, jewels, and money 
upon the woman who made his gloomy sick-room 
brilliant, as some gorgeous tiger-moth of the East. 

“ If she only gather spoils enough,” mused Raoul, 
“ she may be frightened back to Constantinople. The 
fierce intrigues of the harem and the gilded, corrupt 
life of the Embassies will give her a new career be- 
yond the dreams of romance!” 

Raoul chuckled as he reflected how skillfully he 
had covered all his tracks! 

“ She is powerless to hurt me now, with Ambroise 
Larue! For, the old man’s control of the mine rests 
on his utter fidelity to my interests! ” 

A dream of future eminence fairly took the young 
schemer’s breath away! 

“ Secret ally of Larue — if I should find favor iri 
Judith’s eyes, and this succession fell in, I might 
have a title to offer her, and all the family skeletons 
would be sealed up in one chest at The Priory.” 

It seemed strange that Laure Duvernay should 
build up the throne for a rival, for the splendid young 
Flemish beauty who had thrilled the Frenchman’s 
sensuous heart. 

“ If Sir Aubrey should die under Richepin’s manip- 
ulations and this Circe’s skillful inciting to desperate 
excesses, then, there is but one stumbling-block in my 
path! It shall be removed! For, even if I do not 
win my way to Judith Larue’s side, I am the legal 
heir of Julian Hawtrey. And, how blindly he has 
placed himself in my power, by baptizing me Mcnt 
Brun!” 

With an infinite craft, Raoul Hawtrey, plainly 


128 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


dressed, approached the modest home of Lischen Es- 
chenbach’s longed-for child. 

Threading the streets of the busy manufacturing 
town, Raoul was perfectly master of himself. He 
knew just where the lonely cottage of Rudolf Heffner 
nestled! He knew how the lonely forge foreman 
had sullenly locked up his heart after the pretty, light- 
minded wife had eloped with Eschenbach, the thieving 
bookkeeper of the Atelier Durand. 

A giddy, handsome dog, the young fellow had easily 
lured away the vivacious young woman, almost a score 
of years younger than her husband. 

And Raoul knew that little Lischen, now a child of 
six, went daily to le Pere Francois Arouet’s parish 
school, that an old aunt of the eloping Lischen was 
now installed as housekeeper, and that the saddened 
man spent too many evenings over his absinthe at 
the Lion d’Or. 

As a lawyer’s clerk, it was easy for the visitor to 
gain the confidence of the white-haired old priest! 

Seated in the rectory, where he could hear the 
songs of the children, echoing through the drowsy 
hall of the humble school, the sly-minded Raoul told 
a tale of a repentant mother’s interest in the child 
which she had left as a wee tot of two. 

That the sum of one thousand francs had been sent 
to a French notary to be deposited with proper par- 
ties for the child’s clothing, nurture, and education, 
seemed most plausible of stories, and all that the Pari- 
sian notary asked was a picture of the child, a quarterly 
report, and then, the intimation of future benefits daz- 
zled the good priest. 

“ I must return on the evening train,” briskly said 
Raoul. “ Mon pere, I ask your professional confi- 
dence, for Lischen Heffner fears her determined hus- 
band’s vengeance! Who knows but that the child 
may bring them together again! ” 

The exhibition of two five-hundred franc billets de 
banque at once convinced the simple priest of his vis- 
itor’s integrity. 

“ It will take time! Shall I confide in old Margue- 
rite, the aunt? She is a woman of some heart and 
devotion!” # 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


129 


“ All women talk! said Raoul. “ Get the old wo- 
man to write a full letter to this poor lost soul out in 
America. Send it and the reports on to Notary 
Achille Duprat, No. 5 Rue Paradis, Paris. This will 
be followed up with future help, only if you keep our 
secret! ” 

“ How can I expend the money usefully without 
attracting attention and arousing the father’s sus- 
picions? ” cried the bewildered priest. 

A little cross-examination evolved the plan of in- 
troducing the little Lischen as a half-orphan, into the 
Sisters’ School and Home attached to the parish! 

" The money will keep her comfortably three years 
and, she will have a brighter home,” said Pere Arouet. 
“ The old man is sadly in need of this help! ” 

It was a matter of half an hour for Father Arouet 
to call the wondering child in. 

Raoul soon knew all little Lischen’s simple story. 
He filled her chubby hands with new, shining franc 
pieces, and Father Arouet, four hours later, brought 
Raoul at his hotel a half dozen metal tint pictures, the 
results of the proces instantanc. 

“ Now, mon Pere,” said Raoul, as he poeketed 
duplicate official receipts for the money advanced in 
the name of Achille Duprat, “ you sorely need a 
new soutane! ” 

And laughingly, Raoul slipped five gold napoleons 
into the old man’s trembling hand. 

Armed at all points, the schemer laughed as he took 
the night train for Paris. 

“ They are of another century here, these loitering 
human sheep! ” mused the engineer. He. had lin- 
gered before the door of the Lion d’Or to see the 
bearded man of fifty-five sullenly drain a huge dram of 
absinthe after his day’s work in the sweating forges. 

“ A stern old man,” was Raoul’s verdict. “ And 
yet, better that the fugitive Lischen comes back with 
a few thousand francs to blind his glimpses into her 
past, for she yearns for the child! And it will get her 
out of New Mexico! I wish no living witnesses on 
my trail ! ” 

“ It will be our last separation? ” murmured Laure, 
two days later, when Raoul bade her adieu. Her 


130 


BROUGHT .TO BAY. 


• 

lover laughed gaylv as he clasped a beautiful porte 
bonheur on her rounded arm. His work was now 
done ! 

Old Achille Duprat, possessed only of the address 
of the French Consulate-General at New York, joyed 
over his protege’s success. For he, as well as the 
passionate-hearted Laure, knew now that Raoul had 
but three months of American exile in which to earn 
a fifty thousand honorarium from some rich Ameri- 
cans. It was the five years’ savings of even an emi- 
nent French engineer. 

The future lies golden before us, Laure,” mur- 
mured Raoul. “ Be wary! Should any unforeseen 
event block your plans, take refuge again in Constan- 
tinople ! There, Abbas Pasha and old Veronville will 
protect you! You can continue your Comedic Hu- 
, incline with them until I could join you ! But, if Sir 
Aubrey should die. it is gi-lding your future and mine ! ” 

They had carefully rehearsed the simple, secret 
cipher which had provided for all contingencies. 

“ Get old Richepin as deep into it as you can! ” 
urged Raoul. “ He will protect his fees and his 
money interests, and the honor of his Clinique! ” 

“ We are au fait, the Doctor and I! ” smiled Laure, 
with a sinister glance which told Raoul of her success- 
ful wiles. 

Aided by Laure’s fear of the suspicious Sir Aubrey 
discovering her intrigue, the young engineer left 
Paris unsuspected, for, with her usual craft, Laure 
sped away to make a railway detour and “ arrive from 
Lyons,” and be met by Sir Aubrey’s superb turnout 
at the station! The Queen of Witches trusted, least 
of all, the domestics in the beautiful villa, for they all 
eyed her with the fierce jealousy of underlings for 
the reigning mistress. 

As Raoul Hawtrev glided again into his character 
of “ Monsieur de Mont Brun ” he pondered, on his 
way over the Channel, upon his brother Julian’s 
adroit approaches to Judith Larue! 

“ If he knew of this impending succession, my whole 
scheme would be in danger! ” mused the intending 
Cain. “ But, buried out there at Bear Valley, he can 
• not anticipate me! Impossible if Laure is true, and 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


131 

Lischen Eschenbach watches for me at the Rancho 
at Coyote! Should Sir Aubrey die, and Julian hasten 
back to England, on the receipt of the news, I would 
then be left powerless! I can not strike him down 
in England! That would mean my final ruin! ” 

Ignorant of Julian’s fierce desire to use the Haw- 
trev title as a golden bait for Larue’s heiress, Raoul 
was unaware of the “ affectionate interest ” which 
caused Julian (on his last visit) to register his own 
address with Messrs. Glyn, Carr & Glyn, with his 
own solicitors, and to lodge money at a private In- 
quiry Office to send cablegrams as to the Baronet’s 
affairs to Caliente, New Mexico, to be sent on to the 
Rancho Cienfuegos, at Coyote. , 

“ He can’t last long, the vicious beggar! ” was the 
angry comment of the “ next of kin,” as the hand- 
some athlete saw “ No Thoroughfare ” in the im- 
passive faces of the bank clerks. 

These young financiers grinned at Julian’s discom- 
fiture, for Sir Aubrey Hawtrey was always followed 
by the aftermath of his heartless and despeiate love 
intrigues. 

The sly patrician covered his tracks adroitly, little 
knowing how helpless he lay now, a mere human 
wreck, under the dangerous spell of Laure Duver- 
nay’s velvety eyes! 

It was a crisp winter morning when Raoul Haw- 
trey, darting across London, with no stop, descended 
from the train at Sheffield! His luggage, on this oc- 
casion, was re-enforced by a chosen batterie de toilette, 
for, the crafty Larue had sent the closed carriage, 
and a van, to convey his guest to “ The Priory.” 

With a magnificent self-control, Larue had con- 
cealed his exultation at the coming, control of a cop- 
per mine which could only exist in the unreaped, 
treasure-laden Sierras of mighty America, the won- 
der and mystery of the modern world! 

“ Monsieur Raoul de Mont Brun ” smiled, in a 
secret triumph, when he was received at “ The Pri- 
ory,” by Miss Judith, a new revelation in her triumph- 
ant beauty. 

“ You are my prisoner, until dinner! ” the imperious 
beauty remarked, “ for, my father is anxious to speed 


132 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


you on your way, and he will confer with you here.” 

Raoul recognized the acuteness of the old million- 
aire, of whose handwriting in instructions he had even 
no sample ! Merely the signature to the deed of license 
of the Larue Process, and the copartnership papers, in 
return for his own deed to the controlling interest of the 
Bear Valley Copper Mine. 

Raoul had been careful to lead his crafty brother 
Julian into a direct acknowledgement of the owner- 
ship of his unclouded tenth of the mine. 

“ That then, would leave Mr. David Ross, yourself, 
myself, and ‘ Monsieur de Mont Brun ’ the only par- 
ties in interest?” formally queried Larue. 

“ Precisely! ” said Julian, “ and you will have the 
deeds of Mr. Ross and myself to the Company, in 
return for your capitalization, with ‘ Monsieur de 
Mont Brun ’ on his receiving from you his equal tenth 
of the paid up capital stock.” 

And so, it was, as a double partner, that Raoul 
Hawtrey entered the splendid halls of “ The Priory.” 

Secretly resolved in his policy to let the “ shy ante- 
lope ” approach him, Raoul at the breakfast paid as- 
siduous court to the stately old Belgian lady who 
was the “ social background ” of “ The Priory.” 

But Miss Judith, secretly pleased by a relief from 
the instantaneous attack of her ordinary suitors, soon 
drew out from the romantic wanderer all the story 
of his adventures in Spain, in the Dobrudsha, his ad- 
ventures in wild, imperial Russia, in the dreamy Cau- 
casus, in history-haunted Asia Minor, and under the 
shadows of Istambol’s minarets. 

Raoul resigned himself to the impetuous question- 
ing of the beautiful woman. 

A new Othello, he told his story, and told it simply 
and well. 

“ We have traveled far enough in the East,” 
laughed Judith. “ Madame De Vrees will show you 
the house. It is my father’s hobby! For you will 
be busied with him in the evenings until your departure. 
To-morrow you shall have a long country drive with 
us, and Madame can point out the glories of York- 
shire.” 

Raoul felt that this alert young beauty was her 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


133 


father’s sole confidante; he recognized at once La- 
rue’s desire to keep his visit incognito! 

And that afternoon, after feasting his eyes upon 
the glories of picture gallery and museum, Raoul felt 
a new fever in his blood! 

Judith’s superb voice had echoed from below, and 
in its passionate thrill he felt that she would enslave 
him! 

“ Only to be her father’s faithful spy, out there in 
the Painted Mountains ! They need me ! But, if I 
stood in my brother’s shoes then I might aspire! ” 

There was no escaping the eager Larue after din- 
ner, when he dragged Raoul to the library. 

The young engineer was startled at the profound 
sagacity of Larue’s every plan to wring the golden 
harvest from the Bear Valley Mine. 

“ I have gone through the whole matter alone,” 
said Larue. “ I have given Bremond every instruc- 
tion. but, you are to act silently, with no regard to 
Captain Hawtrey or my expert! Here are your own 
instructions! Forget nothing, for, I never put these 
secret matters in writing! ” 

It was long after midnight when Raoul was released 
from the great metallurgist’s cross-questionings. 

And then it seemed as if every rock and crag was 
familiar to the millionaire. 

“ Bremond will make a sketch survey and contour 
reeonnoissance of the whole property,” said Larue. 
“ You are to execute only my orders, report to me 
alone, and to keep even this visit a secret from Cap- 
tain Hawtrey. With Bremond you can not exchange 
a word upon my business! He never talks! ” said 
the grim financier. 

Raoul Hawtrey tossed late that night in his restless 
dreams, for before him a bright and glowing vision, 
Judith Larue was leading him on, and, at the last, 
there was a black gulf yawning behind him! He felt 
Laure Duvernay’s arms winding heavily around his 
neck, and then he fell — fell — until, with a start, he 
awoke to a new day in the Palace Beautiful. 

It was with an absolute acquiescence that five days 
later Monsieur de Mon! Brun received his stern 
host’s last orders! 


134 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


‘•You will go back to Cherbourg, take the next 
French steamer, having cabled, ‘ Detained four days 
by sickness ! ’ Let all this visit be a sealed book ! 
Remember, you are not to write or cable to me under 
any circumstances! Leave all that to Bremond! If 
the unforeseen occurs, come here! I will guarantee all 
expenses and salary! Our secret association must 
be guarded! ” 

They had learned -to probe each others minds in 
the nights of keen intellectual rivalry. Their talk had 
gone over the whole range of science, and the scien- 
tific plan for the handling of the mine was now r com- 
plete to its last detail. 

Raoul’s heart was stirred by the influence of the 
majestic beauty who seemed to be her father’s only 
adviser. 

In the days of his sojourn, he had been superbly 
entertained, always under the calm eye of Madame 
De Vrees, a very lighthouse of propriety. 

But in a lonely corner of the drawing-room, on 
the eve of his departure, Judith Larue rent the veil 
which surrounded his incognito with a fearless hand. 

“ Before you go,” she said, quietly, “ I would tell 
mv father, were I in your place, why you masquerade 
as Monsieur de Mont Brun. Stay! ” she said. “ Hear 
me! Nothing escapes him! He obtained all your 
PoJytechnique record! He knows that your mother 
was Aglae de Montbrun! That your father was Gen- 
eral Reginald Hawtrey! ” 

“ It was my brother’s doing! ” cried Raoul, as he 
poured out his whole soul to the magnificent woman 
at his side. “ He w r orks mysteriously; he feared to 
use my name as a public organizer, and so, I have 
been only his scientist in the foreign journeys! In 
this way, I have been able to aid our fortunes! ” 

With a consummate skill, led on by her encourag- 
ing smile, Raoul told of the fate which had made him 
a French soldier, while his brother was an English 
aristocrat. 

But half the secrets of his heart did he unfold when 
Judith thrilled him with a meaning glance. 

“ Be ruled bv me! Tell my father frankly all when 
he returns from the meeting of Magistrates!” 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


135 


The young man covered her hand with passionate 
kisses. 

“ And, if I were the Copper King to be, if I were 
the next of kin to Sir Aubrey Hawtrey, if I had Com- 
bermere and its attendant rank to lay at your feet? v 

“ Then,” whispered Judith, bending down her state- 
ly head, “ I would bid you to hope, as I did not bid 
him! ” 

Raoul’s heart beat wildly as Judith Larue rose. 

“I have no secrets from my father! He has said 
that his mantle should descend upon a man like you! 
Wait! Be true to him, and you shall have a fair field! 
Who knows my father’s will? He will secretly follow 
you up. Be true to him, and every step brings you 
nearer to me! ” 

Raoul was alone when he lifted his eyes, for the 
somber-eyed queen of “The Priory” had fled away! 
She had, at last, approaching like the shv antelope, 
lifted her veil to show this strange, romantic suitor 
the beauty of Vashti, all trembling in a woman’s 
hopes and fears. 

When Raoul Hawtrey gazed into Ambroise Larue’s 
eyes that night the old man said: 

“ It is well! Go and do your duty! Your future is 
in vour own hands! ” 

The chilly November morning seemed a golden 
summer to Raoul when he departed the next day, for 
the pressure of Judith Larue’s shapely hand at part- 
ing told him that she waited for his home-coming. 

In her eves he read the strange mixture of yearn- 
ing and self-surrender which tells that Love has fixed 
his throne within the soft ramparts of a fond woman’s 
bosom! 

In the first days of his soiourn, he had bee^ led 
r»ut, beyond himself, into the supreme exertion of 
every hidden grace and talent to please the worpau 
who had leaned down from her throne. 

But, one last touch of chivalry was left to him ! Jle 
reached Cherbourg and sailed out in the “ Bour- 
gogne r with no telltale commerce of letter and tele- 
gram with the woman who held Sir Aubrey Hawtrey 
in thrall. 

And yet, fierce day dreams tortured him, until he 


136 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


was set ashore, in the maelstrom of New York, to 
join the two comrades, now impatient of his delay. 

He accepted his subordinate position without a 
murmur, seeing far down in the future the welcoming 
glances of Judith Larue’s eyes. 

“ You are to be Mont Brun until relieved by your 
brother,” was Larue’s parting injunction. “ You have 
acted wisely! ” 

As the travelers rushed westward, Raoul found 
himself a pawn, seemingly, in the game. He only 
briefly knew that the Newark workings had verified 
all his scientific predictions. 

And he never even suspected the transaction which 
had placed the heavy sum of twenty thousand pounds 
as an insurance upon Julian Hawtrey’s life, with the 
Lancashire Life Assurance Company in New York, 
under Bremond’s guidance. 

“ You are good for fifty years! ” said the Com- 
pany’s Medical Actuary to the stalwart English Cap- 
tain. 

“ Damn it! I wish Aubrey would make his calling 
and election sure! ” grumbled Julian. “ Then, I would 
have something to live for! ” 

One ally only remained to the reticent Raoul, as 
he secretly chafed under his subordination. Achille 
Duprat had forwarded to him the letters and docu- 
ments which would gladden Lischen Eschenbach’s 
heart. 

Texas Dave ’ will, of course, pay court to these 
two men ! ” mused Raoul, “ but, with that woman’s 
help I can circumvent Julian. If Sir Aubrey dies, he 
must never know it till Bremond has gone back! And 
then I will be a silent worker! But this fellow Ross 
must be got out of the wav! He is clear-headed. 
Were he to suspect I might be made a sample of 
frontier vengeance! ” 

With a well-assumed cheerfulness, Raoul Hawtrey 
learned of the eagerness of the energetic Texan for 
their arrival! A telegram at New Orleans announced 
the readiness of the frontier partner to meet his vis- 
itors. The selected five hundred tons of ores were 
all on the dumps, awaiting the arrival of the new 
expert. 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


137 


Brisk, cheerful, and radiant was “ Texas Dave ” 
when he met the party at Caliente and escorted them 
to the little hotel, where the wintry snows had driven 
the frontier circle into gambling and bar-room, until 
the spring should return. 

“ Mr. Mount Brown ” indulged in a hearty laugh 
ovdr the sanguine Dave’s advancement of his mar- 
riage. 

Miss Hannah Maverick was now the mistress of a 
duplicate cottage, rivaling the Squire’s in splendor! 

And so, leaving the three to arrange the formalities 
of their departure in the morning, Raoul sped away 
to old Franqois Duval! The lonely French watch- 
maker was jubilant over his patron’s return, and, 
then with hungry eyes, Raoul read the letter of the 
excited Lischen Eschenbach! 

With a keen forethought, he had telegraphed to 
the watchmaker, and he now knew every detail of 
the life at Coyote in his absence. 

“ She will serve my purpose! ” mused Raoul. 
“ Poor devil! I will send her home and fill her purse! 
She will be the bienvenue, if she come not emptv- 
handed! ” 

And so, he left behind him, when the wagon-train 
and escort pulled out, his latest directions for handling 
all his mail and telegrams ! 

“ Old Duval, too, shall be rewarded,” was Raoul’s 
verdict, for the jeweler had been true to his trust. 

Once more the wild, lonely scene of the Cienfuegos 
Rancho rose up before Raoul Hawtrey’s eyesj with 
its plains cotered with a light, sand-drifted snow. 

The Frenchman started back when he entered the 
dining-room of Rancho Cienfuegos. The headquar- 
ters was thronged with the upper employees, all gath- 
ered in to greet Manager Julian Hawtrey. 

A half-dozen Mexican women moved lazily around 
serving the food, but, in an inner room, Lischen Es- 
chenbach led them to a well-stocked table. Raoul 
recognized the sly craft of the woman, who only 
greeted him casually and, as the last of the new- 
comers. 

But, a triumphant tide of health and renewed cour- 
age had brought back much of her vanished beauty. 


138 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


Her husband, pallid and nervous, at once accosted 
Julian. 

“ I have only waited for your return to close the 
accounts, and ask for three months at the Hot 
Springs! ” 

It was plain that the bookkeeper was going off rap- 
idly, in the last decline of a quick consumption. Her 
coming freedom was written on every line of Lis- 
chen’s buoyant face. 

But, she was watchful, and it was only on a pretext 
of showing him his room, that she found time to whis- 
per, “ Wait till to-morrow! They will all drive around 
the ranch to see the sheep herds ! Then, we can be 
together unwatched! ” 

And Raoul leaned down and whispered, “ Be calm! 

I have seen your child! All is well! I have good 
news for you! Beware of Bremond! He is a spy, 
and the other, a false-hearted brute! ” 

A light of victory g’eamed in the woman’s eyes, as 
Raoul whispered, “ When I go, we go together! ” 

She threw her arms around her promised deliver- 
er, murmuring, “1 shall be free from my burden soon! 
You have seen! ” 

And then, Raoul, nodding, dismissed her, as he ar- 
rayed himself once more in his frontier garb. Even 
the great revolver lay there, ready to his hand! He 
was left free to wander around the winter-barricaded 
rooms while Julian was deep in accounts with the 
failing Eschenbach. 

But, “ Texas Dave ” was closeted with Bremond, 
explaining all his arrangements, receiving orders, 
and proudly telling of the dozen substantial two-room 
log-cabins now ready in Bear Valley, to receive the 
advance guard of the copper miners. 

The graders were already giving.way to the track- 
layers at the foot of the Painted Mountains, and a 
two-company military post was to be established in 
the early spring at the terminus to overawe the no- 
madic Jicarilla Apaches. 

“ We will have a free field and a clear swing now! ” 
said “ Texas Dave.” “ The authorities are our secret 
friends. I’ve fixed all that, and Don Andres Armijo 
has helped this on.” 


139 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 

Three days later, under a heavy escort, Bremond, 
Julian, and Raoul left the Company’s headquarters 
at Coyote, with six well-laden teams, two good cov- 
ered wagons arranged for sleeping, and moved stead- 
ily over the shallow, crusty snow, the merry pack- 
mules trotting lightly before them. 

Raoul blessed that one day of lucky leisure which 
had given him the desired opportunity for a secret 
arrangement with the jubilant Lischen. The woman’s 
heart bounded with delight at the prospect of her re- 
lease from the thraldom of a worn-out passion. 

“ You shall have my heart’s blood,” she whispered, 
“ for vour tidings of my child! Trust to me! I know 
all ! And, we will go together — you and I ! ” 

That very day, in far-away Paris, Sir Aubrey Ha 
trey felt a sudden decline in his flickering life forces 
“Only you — no one else!” he fretfully murmur, 
to the watchful Laure. “Stay with me! Leave me 
not a single moment ! And, you will find that I have 
not forgotten you! Here are the keys of my own 
secretaire! The contents are yours, if you do my 
bidding! And under mv pillow you will find a letter! 
Swear to me that you will fulfill mv last wishes! ” 

“ I swear! ” muttered the now frightened woman, 
for, the end of the Belshazzar reign was ni^h at hand. 

“ You’re a good sort! ” peevishly cried Sir Aubrey. 
“ By Gad! I believe you really have had a fancy for 
me — the only one! ” 


CHAPTER VIII. 

FOR HIGH STAKES AT THE BEAR VALLEY MINE — 

“ TEXAS DAVE ” AS A MONOPOLIST — BREMOND’s 
RETURN “ YOU ARE TO WAIT FOR DIS- 

PATCHES.” 

“ Monsieur de Mont Brun ” was keenly regardant 
of his three companions, as the heavily laden train 
crawled westwardly to the foot of the Painted Moun- 
tains.' 

Tulian’s cattle and sheep affairs occupied a great 
portion of his time, as he rode in the ambulance 


140 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


with Bremond. It was easy for Raoul to recognize 
Julian’s determination that his artful brother should 
cement no intimacy with the taciturn Bremond. That 
sturdy young Belgian was, however, busied, note- 
book in hand, and Raoul laughed in his sleeve as 
Julian watched his brother’s every move. 

“ Texas Dave,” scorning anything but the saddle, 
galloped from end to end of the train, a heavy outfit, 
for Bremond had brought a thorough supply of as- 
sayer’s stores, light testing machinery, and even a 
portable smelting furnace, with a horse-power for 
the fans. Five tons of smelting coke filled two 
wagons, and showed that the taciturn Belgian was 
up to his business. 

Grave, calm-eyed, with the stolid self-confidence 
of the Fleming, Bremond was a courteous, though 
reticent, companion. 

Through chilly blasts" and scurrying snows, the 
wagon train wound along, taking five weary days to 
reach the foot of the mountain. 

Comfortable at night, in the covered wagons, their 
canvas hoods blanket-lined, the voyagers duly met 
around the camp-fire or at meals. 

Dave Ross was guide, head packer, commander 
of the escort, and general disciplinarian. 

There was a quiet elation in the Texan’s manner 
which, at last, attracted Julian’s notice.- 

“ Our friend seems another man since his mar- 
riage,” said Julian to Raoul, in one of the half-hours 
spent riding in his brother’s wagon. 

“ Ross is no fool! ” said “ Mr. Mount Brown.” “ In 
native ability he is the equal of any man. The sort 
of a fellow who always has ‘ something up his sleeve,’ 
as they say here.” 

“ And, so have I,” at last, confided Julian. “ I have 
made arrangements with the lawyers of our new 
Sheep Company to quietly enter all the land, for five 
miles up and down the ridge. You and I and Bre- 
mond and Larue can control it, as equal partners ! ” 

This dream of future acquisition staggered Raoul, 
who, at once said: 

“ The surveys? ” 

“ Ah! ” complacently laughed Julian. “ That is all 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


141 

provided for. I have had Bremond deputized as a 
United States Surveyor and the moneys will be paid 
over, the maps filed, the deeds from the Land Register 
at Santa Fe will be made out, before any one knows 
of this rich strike! ” 

“ And, ‘ Texas Dave ’ ? ” doubtfully said Raoul. 

“ Oh ! That clodhopper has enough already in his 
interest in the Bear Valley! I feared to trust him, for 
he would have brought the whole floating population 
down on us! ” 

Powerless in Julian’s hands, appreciating the finger 
of the distant Larue in this new operation, Raoul 
mused alone, until Julian suddenly asked him: 

“ Have you a picture of our mother? I have long 
wished to obtain one, and L hoped that you might 
have dug up some of our strange family archives.” 

With a masterly self-composure, Raoul met his 
brother’s crucial glances all unmoved. 

“ Only her face I remember, as, at the age oj five, 
she bade me adieu when I was taken to the boarding- 
school at Asnieres. Just a memory of a gentle, 
delicate, womanlv face, beautiful as I remember! ” 

Julian was busied with stuffing his pipe as he grum- 
bled : ' 

" Devil take the fellows who destroyed all my 
father’s papers ! When we are all over this mountain 
quest, I want to talk to you about family affairs ! You 
see, I fear to betray our relationship, as yet ! ” 

Raoul nodded when Julian left the carriage at the 
next halt. 

“ Liar and villain! You tried to trap me! ” mused 
Raoul, watching Julian’s tall form as he now strolled 
up to “ Texas Dave,” who was indicating a camp. 
“ You would betray him the man to whom you owe 
this coming future! And me, you would trap! ” and 
then Ramil’s eyes rested on the summits of the 
Painted Mountains, now hovering over them. “ Wait 
— onlv wait! ” he growled. 

“ That fellow has not brought anv papers — he lied 
to me about the picture,” muttered Julian, strolling 
out to take a pot shot at a skulking gray wolf. “ I 
must get him into my power, but, Dave and Bremond 
must first be gone ! Ah ! I’ll send Dave away to escort 


142 


Brought to bay. 


Bremond as far as Santa Fe when he leaves! On 
pretense of examining our titles, he can file all his 
secret surveys, and so, make Dave hoodwink him- 
( self! “ Then, then. Monsieur Mont Brun, you will 
be alone with me! ” 

There was a general astonishment the next morn- 
ing when “ Texas Dave ” sent the unloaded pack- 
train scurrying along up the mountain slopes, and 
gave orders to double the teams of the loaded wag- 
ons. 

Even Raoul joined in Bremond’s surprise. 

"What is this?” cried Julian. 

“ I've made a pretty fair ‘ corduroy ’ road, Cunnel,” 
calmly answered Dave, “ all the way up to the mine. 
Only, I double the teams to haul the loads up ! All 
our freight will be up there to-morrow night! ” 

“And, the pack-mules?” cried the astonished Eng- 
lisman. 

“ They are to pack our ores along the ridge to Bear 
Valley! From there, we can haul everything down! ” 

“ How did you do this?” wonderingly said Julian. 

“ I let the railroad graders make the road, and 
have agreed to let them haul down all the wood they 
will need for their camp-fires, but, they are to cut no 
timber! ” 

The Europeans admired Dave’s foresight. There 
was a permanent camp, with a palisaded corral, and 
hay-sheds at the foot of the mountain! 

“ You see, we only need half the wagons up there 
— the rest can bring in our feed, hay, and supplies 
from Coyote. Next summer, at the roadway station 
there,” he pointed to the end of the grade a half-mile 
away, “ we can receive and ship direct to Newark 
or New York, without opening a single car ! ” 

" You are a genius! ” exclaimed. Julian. 

“ And, the military post will soon be located up 
there! ” simply said Dave, pointing to a line of trees 
fringing a sheltered valley. “ There’s water and feed 
for five hundred horses .there, and easy trails all over 
the Divide. The two troops of cavalry will take post 
as soon as the grass is long enough for pasture. That 
will block Mr. Lo ! With a picket-post on top of ‘ La 
Loma ” there, they can signal a hundred miles in 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


143 


every direction, on a clear day. And the railroad is 
going on down to Fort Wingate, through Bernalillo 
County. There will be twenty telegraph stations 
along the line, and the camp here, will have its own 
office. That’s what knocks out the Injuns, the rail- 
way and the telegraph! ” 

Both Bremond and Julian were thoughtful, as they 
recognized the scope of Dave Ross’s practical mind. 

“ No fool! ” whispered the Belgian, as he strolled 
away to take a dozen photographs of the Sierras. 

Astonishment followed this surprise, as three hours 
later, Julian Hawtrey halted his “ ambulance ” and 
leaped out in the center of a square made by the 
twenty huge log-cabins. 

There was a stockade corral for the animals, with 
a ditch of running water led across the valley. 

The tall fringe of sighing pines had kept off the 
snow drifts, and a score of Mexicans, at a great barn 
made of roughly riven shakes, were now capturing 
the frolicking mules. 

“This is almost a village! ” exclaimed Julian, gaz- 
ing around amazed. 

“ It’s all easy enough! ’’ laughed Dave Ross. “ The 
whole thing did not cost more than a thousand dol* 
lars. A dozen axmen, two ‘ jack-knife carpenters,’ 
and twenty ‘ greasers ’ have done all this work. I 
laid it all out, and the road also! ” 

With some pride, “ Texas Dave ’’ led the way to a 
sheltered nook, where two double cabins, connected 
by a covered passage, were already in the possession 
of the servants. One, as kitchen and dining-room, 
was the scene of activity, with its rear shed for the 
attendants. 

In the other, standing bunks, rude tables, and 
chairs, a roaring fire in the great fireplace and chim- 
ney, built of mountain stones, told of his preparations 
for the coming of the sybarites. 

“ There’s a bale of blankets, a dozen buffalo robes, 
and, as I’ve got a load of lumber, the carpenter will 
make any odd things that Mr. Bremond may need ! 
Now, gentlemen, I turn the whole thing over to you ! 
I am at your orders ! The ore piles are all ready at the 


144 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


forty different places — ready for weighing and sack- 
ing up.” 

Bremond expressed his surprise at the bountiful 
dinner provided. 

“Oh! I’ve a good hunter!” said Dave, “and 
there’s game enough here to feed an army. The 
Mexicans have their tortillas, and cigarettes, and cof- 
fee! I’ve provisioned the place for a whole month.” 

While Bremond, with “ Texas Dave,” took a gen- 
eral survey, Julian Hawtrey gave his brother his la- 
conic instructions. 

“You are to simply aid Bremond; do nothing ex- 
cept under his orders, and let me confer with him on 
all important matters! ” 

On that winter evening, as the sun went down Jar 
to the west, gleaming upon the lightly silvered plains 
and the softly mantled Sierras, with thoughtful faces 
the four men gathered around the great fireplace. 

“ I can finish up easily here* in a month,” said Bre- 
mond, “ and all that I ask is that Monsieur de Mont 
Brun aids me, and that I have arrangements to for- 
ward letters and telegrams, if necessary, to Europe! ” 

“ The messenger can ride to the ranch in two days, 
and from there on, in one more, at Caliente, you 
can send cables, so, in one week, you can have any- 
thing answered! Twice a week, I will send in the 
mail, so as to catch the regular bi-weekly mail at 
Coyote. Eschenbach, or rather,” laughed Dave, “ his 
pretty wife, is the Postmaster. That German’s a 
powerful smart man,” said the Texan, turning to 
Julian. “ But, a great whisky drinker. Now, whisky 
drinking is a profession by itself, and usually takes up 
all a man’s time! You’ll need a new bookkeeper 
soon! That fellow will be dead in a month!” 

“ I know it! ” quietly said Julian. “ I’ve put vourig 
Saunders, the second foreman, in with him, to learn 
all the accounts. Saunders is a college-bred man, 
though a cowboy, and he does not drink!” 

The weather singularly moderating in a week, 
“ Bear Valley ” was a hive of activity. Bremond and 
Raoul Hawtrey were busied from morn till night 
on the practical labors of*the mine. The ores being 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


145 


assorted and sampled, were dispatched by wagon- 
loads to the far-away railway at Caliente. 

Mounted on his lank lasso horse, “ Texas Dave ” 
was the central figure of the busy scene, galloping 
from the camp at the base of the mountains to the 
headquarters, an alert, brave, resolute figure! 

No one knew of the purport of the long conversa- 
tions in French, which Julian, Bremond, and Raoul 
carried on by the fireplace at night, or at the side of 
the furnace, temporarily set up in a rude log-shelter, 
where the creating horse-power made the roaring 
fan whirl with its hundred multiplied velocity. 

Bending over the assayer’s tables, Julian darkly 
plotted the furtive survey of the presumably valuable 
extensions of the lead with Bremond. 

“ The only way to do is to send Dave off to Coyote 
for a week!” quietly suggested Raoul. “We can 
have the surveys all done, in his absence! I can make 
the maps here! He will not suspect!” 

There was an inner “ holy of holies,” the carpenter 
having framed off a little room for Bremond’s per- 
sonal “ parlor magic! ” 

“That a splendid idea!” cried both the listeners. 

It was on the night before “ Texas Dave’s ” de- 
parture on the general inspection tour all along the 
line, Bremond having some idly fancied commissions 
at Caliente, that Julian addressed Dave Ross before 
them all! 

“ We must be careful that no one works in on our 
lines! ” the brooding Copper King said. “ Any gos- 
sip now would bring five hundred people ia on us 
in a week. And, we have no real authority to keep 
order; only a mere right of self-defense! ” 

“ No one' can leave this camp! ” sternly said Dave. 
“ I have given* orders at the foot of the mountain 
to hold on to any of our stragglers ! And all my men 
will obey me! ” 

“That’s all right!” coolly said Julian, “but they 
might come up — outsiders — and watch our proceed- 
ings! They might get in on the ground near us! ” 

“ I’ve got men riding the ridge! I’ll prevent that! 
Trust to me!” said Dave, with a quiet smile, as he 
loaded his six-shooter freshly, “for contingencies!” 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


I46 

During Dave’s absence, the survey of the coveted 
grounds was rapidly carried on by the indefatigable 
Bremond and the cheerful Raoul. 

Julian Hawtrey chafed in an internal excitment, as 
the days progressed — the southern five miles had 
been all surveyed and the. lines duly pegged, and 
the. two scientists were now busied on the northern 
area. 

The. main work was in bulk all under control. 
Every trip of the ten wagons carried away forty tons 
of the selected ore, carefully sewed with rawhide 
thongs, in hide bags, all duly ticketed and numbered. 
No envious t prospector could tell the final destination 
or origin of the contents by any volunteer spy work. 

Julian’s fever increased as Bremond frankly ac- 
knowledged the results of his rough workings of the 
ore. There was a pile of fifty twenty-pound ingots 
of the crude metal now safely stored away under 
the Belgian’s bunk! 

“ Yes! ” said Bremond, in answer to Julian’s final 
inquiry. “The mine is all that you have claimed! 
There is ore enough in sight for twenty years— a 
superb water-power, timber for charcoal at a mini- 
mum cost, and, as Monsieur Mont Brun says, the 
mine will really work itself and deliver its product at 
the railway station, by gravity, and using the free 
water-power. A switch of two miles will enable us to 
put the ore on the cars by a line of traveling buckets ! 
And, as the assays made here run over the average 
of our blew York and European workings, I think I 
am safe in spying you have all the money that man 
can want in the product of this wonderful lode! ” 

Two men’s hearts burned with a restless fever to see 
the production begin, brothers in blood, enemies at 
heart, and each, seeing in this unreaped wealth of the 
. Painted Mountains the way to share Judith Larue’s 
throne at “ The Priory.” 

“ You may wish to communicate in Dave Ross’s 
absence,” said Julian to the silent Bremond, when 
the ranch messenger rode up with a sheaf of letters. 

“ T have already cabled to Larue that the mine is. 
all right!” said Bremond. “I sent the dispatch 
down by your ‘ Texas Dave ’! ” 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


147 


“ Then, we need not worry! ” said the startled Ju- 
lian, half conscious of the mastery of the great money 
king. 

“ You seem to have no friends! ” he said, half-fret- 
fully to Raoul, who was calmly engaged in rolling 
his Syrian cigarettes, his one luxury. 

“ I have no correspondence — I am all alone on the 
earth!” placidly replied the Frenchman. “It saves 
iust so many postage stamps! ” 

And yet, Julian Hawtrey was not misled by Raoul’s 
apparent calm. 

The young engineer was as invariably restless as 
a wolf, and only unceasing employment wore him 
down to a semblance of quiet! What was going on 
at that bedside in the sumptuous villa at Fontaine- 
bleau? 

He had already betrayed Laure Duvernay, in his 
own heart! Would the adroit beauty, keep her word? 

“ I shall never get him alone again! ” was the 
burning inward thought of the desp'erate would-be 
lover. “ Once that Bremond is away, I could act — 
but only if — if Laure has closed Sir Aubrey’s eyes! ” 

They were busied in the finishing of the northern 
survey as the time for “ Texas Dave’s ” return ap- 
proached. Julian, “ a mighty hunter before the 
Lord,” rode far ahead of them, circling aroqnd to 
keep off any intrusion. 

The fat, acorn-fed deer wandered idly under the 
branching pines, avoiding the six-inch snow, and 
haunting the cleared circles under the mighty spread- 
ing forest branches. 

The crack of Julian’s rifle sent the silvery squirrels 
chattering from tree to tree, the mountain jays flew 
along the dim forest aisles, and the gray wolf stole 
away at their approach. Only a stupid-eyed Mexi- 
can lad. mounted on a mule and leading another, 
followed Julian to bring in the game. 

It was in the afternoon before Dave Ross’s ex- 
pected return, when Julian, Bremond, and Raoul 
gathered at the last corner-post. 

“ There is nothing really left,” said Bremond, “ but 
to draw in the last line. I can calculate that in the 
sketch map!” 


1 48 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


“ Then,” said Julian, suddenly, “ I will take the 
papers. You must finish them to-night! Sign and 
certify them, Bremond, as Deputy United States Sur- 
veyor. I will make an excuse, leave ‘ Texas Dave ' 
here, and, slipping away on business, post over to 
Caliente, run up on the road to Santa Fe, and pay for 
the land, secure its entry, obtain the Register’s receipts 
and — ” he broke oflf suddenly, as a horse came gallop- 
ing along the ridge, the charger’s feet spurning the 
light snow. 

They all started back, as “ Texas Dave ” reined 
up, holding out a packet of letters and telegrams, 
without a word! , 

. “ You have stolen a march on us! ” growled Julian, 
his face aflame with rage. 

“ The telegrams were marked ‘ Rush! Important! ’ 
and so, I doubled one day’s ride,” simply said Dave, 
sitting there, uncovered, his hat in his hand. 

The three men wondered inwardly at the sudden 
color and altered manner of “ Texas Dave,” as he 
quietly dismounted, and, pulling down the squared 
corner stake, tossed it contemptuously far away. 

“ I can see that you have been at work surveying 
here, gentlemen! ” the vaquero gravely said. “ And I 
must deal squarely with you! Afl this land here for 
five miles up and down the ridge is private property, 
regularly surveyed, duly entered, and — paid for !” 

“ And to whom may it belong? ” shouted Julian 
Hawtrey his face ablaze with a violent passion. 

“To my partner, Don Andres Armijo, and me!” 
quietly answered Dave. “ The titles, undivided, are 
all in Squire Maverick’s safe, and, I have Don Andres 
Armijo’s power of attorney!” 

“ You have deceived us! ” roared Julian, stepping 
back. “ It was the trick of a; ” 

“ Here — none of that talk! ” sharply cried “ Texas 
Dave,” as he noticed Julian’s hand resting on the 
butt of the great Webley revolver. “ I’ll fill you full 
of lead if you pull that gun! I don’t blame Bremond 
or Mr. Mount Brown, but. you set in to rob me, and 
survey and enter this land, in mv absence! Don’t 
deny it! Don Andres telegraphed me to look out, 
for he saw the deputy surveyor appointment of your 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


M9 


friend here, entered in Santa Fe. Why didn’t you 
act square with me, Cunilel? I have given you a 
fortune for nothing, that’s all! ” 

There was the gleam of a revolver in Dave’s hand 
as he spoke. He slowly put his weapon away, and 
said: 

“ There are no pegs driven on our surveyed prop- 
erty! We pegged it out, had an inspector come here, 
pulled the pegs up, and, left you to do your work ! ” 

Sullenly, the vaquero leaped on his horse and 
rode away, followed at a distance by Julian, mounted.' 

The two engineers, on foot, slowly plodded home. 

“ It seems,” said Bremond, as they re-entered the 
cheerful cabin, “ that Mr. David Ross is a man of 
some little native ability — as you said! I will tell 
you, Mont Brun,” he slowly said, weighing each 
word, “ I have received telegraphic orders to hasten 
home the moment that the five hundred tons of ore 
are shipped from Caliente. Larue has telegraphed 
orders for votl to Captain Julian Hawtrey. You are 
to await his letters here! ” 

And then, the Belgian disappeared in his den, to 
write up his reports. 

Raoul sat long before the fire, dreaming of the 
star-eyed beauty of “ The Priory.” 

The dinner long awaited Captain Hawtrey’s re- 
appearance, and the servant announced that the Cop- 
per King was closeted with “ Texas Dave ” in that 
growing monopolist’s own little cabin. 

To the utter astonishment of Bremond and Raoul, 
F’e two appeared in a perfect amity. 

The meal was half over, when Bremond said: 

“ I shall need a messenger to answer Larue’s dis- 
patches and telegrams!” 

“ Get them all ready, then! ” calmly rejoined Julian. 
“ Ross and T are going down to Albuquerque, to see 
Senor Armijo. We will be away for ten days! I will 
take all your mail and send the telegrams ahead with a 
bov on the gallop! ’* 

“ In that case,” gravely answered Bremond, ” you 
must give me an hour to-night with Monsieur Mont 
Brun. I shall probably leave for Sheffield, post- 


15 ° 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


haste, before you return. Mont Brun can take charge 
of all here in my absence.” 

" And I, will remain here with him, and hold the 
mine! ” sternly said Julian, “ until the new company 
sends a permanent manager.” 

“ I must go to Elba, to look after Larue’s iron 
mines,” simply said Bremond. “ I shall cable him for 
instructions! You must send any answer out to me 
on the dead run!” 

• “ I will make all the arrangements,” said Julian, 
as he carefully finished his dinner bottle of claret. 

Wondering at -the sudden change of heart of the 
two quarreling men, Raoul Hawtrev sat alone bv the 
fire, while Julian Hawtrev finished a long, private 
colloquy with the now alert Bremond. 

Then, without a word, Julian sought “ Texas 
Dave’s ” cabin, and two long hours passed away. 

In that glowing fire, Raoul Hawtrey saw many 
changing shapes, as he rolled' cigarette after cigar- 
ette. , 

His active mind easily discerned Julian’s plan to 
eu away with Dave Ross, and, using the Cattle Com- 
pany’s affairs as a lever, build up at Albuquerque a 
triumvirate with the enormously wealthy Mexican 
Armijo to control all the outlying leads! 

” He will leave Larue, and Bremond, and I out of 
this,” correctly judged the brother, now thirsting 
anew for a full revenge. “ One third of these valu- 
able lands is better than a sixth or an eighth! ” 

Tn a moment, Raoul recognized the hidden influence 
which had pushed forward the railway, located the 
army post, built the road up the mountain, and forced 
“ Texas Dave” on in his singular activity. 

Raoul knew the story of the old Chihuahua gran- 

• dee, Don Andres Armijo, a mere boy when Mexico 
'ost its northern possessions. Married to a former 
Mexican Governor’s daughter, Armijo was a power 
in New Mexico, and mines and ranchos, cattle and 
sheep, haciendas in Sonora, rich silver mines in old 
Mexico, all gave him money power, while the de- 
feated Dons of New Mexico aided their fellow aristo- 
crat in every way to circumvent the hated Yankee! 


BROUGHT TO BAY. I51 

Political influence, army favors, contracting cabals, 
all aided Don Andres in his vast enterprises. 

Raoul was still glowering at the fire, when the door 
opened and Julian strode in, and, throwing himself 
on his bunk, went to sleep without a word of com- 
ment, when he had divested himself of his clothes. 

But, with flashing eyes, Raoul sat there by the fire, 
listening to the hoarse boom of a giant owl, perched 
in a pine near by. 

“That means death! ” said Raoul, inwardly, as he 
«lowly sought his corner! “This cold egotist is be- 
ginning to betray Larue now! I will leave it to the 
Belgian to post his master! My time will come! ” 

And so, when the. two men rode away in the early 
morning, Raoul was calni and smiling. 

Bremond had departed to urge on the final opera- 
tions of his practical tests, after ordering relay teams 
to hurry out the balance of the ore. 

“ I'll send all the teams up here, load the rest, 
get it to Coyote,” said “ Texas Dave,” “ and send on 
teams from Caliente to Coyote, to have it all on the 
railroad before you can reach the town! ” 

“ Then, I am free to move,” joyously cried Bre- 
mond. 

“ You shall have your telegraphic answer by relay 
messenger,” said Julian. “ If you leave before I re- 
turn, telegraph me from Caliente to Albuquerque. 
I’ll run over to Trinidad, meet you there, and confer 
with you. Mont Brun can hold the mine, alone, until 
my return ! ” 

Shamefacedly, “ Texas Dave ” had led Raoul aside. 

“ I will not forget you. pardner! ” he simply said. 
“ And Cunnel Hawtrey and I are good friends again ! 
See, he has given me his big revolver, and — he takes 
mine! ” 

“Very good!” said Raoul, now as watchful, as a 
tiger. “When I leave you shall have the other!” 

“ I will keep a share of mv part of the outlvin" 
lands for you! ” cried the genial Texan. “ You have 
been dead square in the whole game! Trust to me! ” 

And then, waving his hat. Dave rode down the 
trail, cutting off th’e slow descent of the wagon. 


152 


lMOUtffil' TO BAY. 


“A brave man and a true!” sighed Raoul as he 
joined Bremond in the laboratory. 

There was little time left to the departing Bre- 
mond. While the camp and roads resounded with 
the yells of the freight-drivers, at night, Bremond 
packed his luggage and papers, by day, toiling in 
the furnace and assay office, and superintending the 
carpenter boxing the selected samples and his gath- 
ered cabinet. 

“ A treasure-house, a veiled Golconda, a treasury of 
the world! ” was Bremond’s final verdict upon the 
Great Divide. “ For ages, the gnomes have guarded 
this wealth, an'd to whom will it bring sorrow, to 
whom the madness of sudden fortune, to whom joy 
and years of peace? ” 

It was the eighth day after the departure of the 
men who were now plotting with Armijo, when a 
Mexican lad spurred his exhausted pony up the road. 

Bremond, whose lips had never uttered a comment 
or reproach upon Julian Hawtrey for his evident 
double-dealing, opened his telegraphic dispatches, 
and handed them to Raoul without a word. 

The excited Frenchman read Larue’s imperative 
cable directing Monsieur Mont Brun to take charge 
of the mine with full power. 

And a second from Julian Hawtrey, at Albu- 
querque, fixed a rendezvous with the Belgian at Trini- 
dad. 

“ Larue telegraphs that I am to hold the mine till 
the working manager arrives. You to report home in- 
stantly. Mont Brun to take charge of the work- 
ings! ” 

“That’s the whole story!” said Bremond. “I 
would simply continue and get out all the ore you can. 
making wagon roads to the places I have selected 
for opening. Larue evidently trusts you, and, I sup- 
pose, Hawtrey and you will have to go back to close 
„ up the new organization. There’s no hurry though; 
the mine, as it is, could be sold for a million pounds. 
It’s a wonder of the world! ” 

Three days latr/, Raoul Hawtrey was the sole ten- 
ant of the headquarters cabin, the silent Belgian hav- 
ing left him with a meaning hand grasp. 


DROUGHT TO BAY. 


153 


“Be true to Larue! He trusts only you!” was 
the young scientist’s adieu. “ And, his favor means 
a fortune for life! But, your own interest here will 
give you all the money any man ever needs ! ” 

The wagons were all dispatched with the departing 
scientist’s freight, under convoy of “ Texas Dave's ” 
wagon-master! The second light Wagon and escort 
wheeled away, with the happy voyager, and for an 
hour, Raoul watched it speeding away over the shin- 
ing plain below. 

The lonely man laid his glass aside at last! 

“ When Julian Hawtrey comes up that hill the next 
time, I shall be ready for him! ” mused the plotting 
schemer. “ There is left but one thing now, and that 
is to get rid of ‘ Texas Dave ’ for a week! ” 

Not even to his own heart did Raoul Hawtrey dare 
own the devilish scheme which beat upon his brain. 

Active and untiring, he urged all on, and, with a 
singularly close scrutiny, examined every inch of the 
ground to the north and south of the Bear Valley 
Mine. 

He was rewarded for his persistence in, at last, after 
a week’s search, finding the outcroppings of the 
mother lode, some two miles to the north and some 
three miles to the south of the present workings. 

And, in his wanderings, he had discovered many 
side trails on the Sierra, used by the ingenious Jica- 
rilla raiders to screen their furtive incursions toward 
old Mexico. 

When, five days later, Julian Hawtrey and “ Texas 
Dave ” returned, the Copper King was overjoyed at 
Raoul’s fiery activity. 

For all of Bremond’s belongings had been forward- 
ed, there was already four hundred tons of ore on 
the new dumps, and the roads for the permanent 
openings of the mine were well under way. 

It was an embarrassed dinner, however, that at 
which Julian and Raoul vainly tried to read each 
others thoughts. 

“There is not much to tell!” said Tulian. “The 
old watchmaker sent you a bundle of French papers. 
Poor Eschenbach is lying dying! The Cattle Com- 


154 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


panv’s affairs are all right! And Bremond’s freight 
will be pushed right on after him.” 

With a desperate effort, Raoul Hawtrey guarded 
his smiling, nonchalant calm, until Dave Ross had 
disappeared to his own cabin. 

Julian Hawtrey, moodily smoking his pipe before 
the fire, at last broke the silence. 

“ I had a half-day with Bremond. over at Trinidad! 
He will transfer the working credit for the mine at 
New York City, to me! He will cable to Larue from 
there for some needed authorities on matters of which 
we talked. And. as we understand it, I am to repre- 
sent the Company, you to have the sole working con- 
trol of the mine, until Larue sends back his man after 
k full conference with this able engineer. Then oh 
course, we shall have to go over and settle up the 
new organization. If one of us stays, it will probably 
be me, and I wish you, if you go home alone, to take 
Eschenbach’s widow over to Europe. Poor devil! 
He is now at death’s door! If you have letters or 
commissions, I will send ‘ Texas Dave’ down in a 
week to bring up Bremond’s final dispatches from 
New York! ” 

Raoul nodded, in his heart stifling a wild throb of 
delight! 

“ At last! at last! ” he murmured. “ And you have 
just that week to live, my Copper King! The brute! ” 

Raoul nursed a now murderous hate, for, day by 
day, Julian, now lazy and luxurious, had never re- 
ferred to the negotiations with Senor Armijo. 

The complacent Englishman now amused himself 
with his hunting, with long, secret conferences with 
“ Texas Dave,” and with rambling over the property 
now secured so thoroughly by the new locations. 

Raoul Hawtrey went his daily round, inspecting, 
urging on the improvements, and making three as- 
says daily of the averaged ores, also securely bottling 
a pint of the pulp ground from the prospecting pul- 
verizer. 

But, the twelve horses working the gear wheel of 
the machine and smelter fan were no more patient 
or silent than Monsieur Mont Brun. 

Raoul was standing, watching the little experi- 


BROUGHT TO BAY I55 

mental smelter, when “ Texas Dave ” approached him 
carefully, after a few days. 

“ I go down to-morrow morning, Mount Brown,” 
he said. “ Now, Senor Armijo and myself have given 
Mr. Larue, over there in Sheffield, a chance to come 
in with Hawtrey (as an agent); and join us two in 
these extensions. We will know his answer when I 
bring back Bremond’s New York dispatches! Cun- 
nel Hawtrey don’t feel so warm as to giving you an 
interest! But, Armijo and I have decided that we 
wish you to look over our property — if the others 
don’t take it up! We will give you- the same fee. 
Ten thousand dollars for your mapping, sampling, 
and a sketch of the workings, with a plan of the plant. 
Old Armijo can open it alone — die’s a game old Don — 
and we will give you a tenth of that property, if you 
make it a success! Not a word of this to Hawtrey — 
he’s no friend of yours! Why, I know not! ” 

“ And, if they take it? ” said -Raoul, with an eagerly 
bounding pulse. 

“ Oh! Then we can force them to take you in, 

. s our adviser, on these same terms. The Don and me 
ain’t going to trust to Mr. Ambroise Larue’s expert 
alone ! Not on your life! ” 

‘‘.Very good! ” said Raoul. “ This remains a dead 
secret between us, in any case! ” 

Together, the next day, Julian Hawtrey and his 
now remorseless brother together watched “ Texas 
Dave ” gallop down the sloping road. 

“ There goes a man who has neatly outwitted old 
Larue,” said Julian. “If he and the Spaniard hold 
to their terms, they will control the output of the 
Divide.” 

“ It matters not to me! ” grimly said Raoul. “ You 
always underrated ‘ Texas Dave ’! He is a very saga- 
cious man! ” 

“ Fool that he is! ” said Julian, turning sharply on 
his brother. “See here! I wish you to secretly 
search for evidences of the lead, above and below us, 
on their property! I telegraphed Larue to offer 
them a round sum for a bond for six months to 
take half of the property at a valuation agreed on 
by their expert and ours! They insist on Larue’s 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


156 

cash offer for a half as the working capital! Now 
I’ve sent this frontier fool away to wait at Caliente 
for dispatches, and I’ve telegraphed Bremond not 
to send any for ten days ! In that time, you can care- 
fully examine the ground ! But, I fear ‘ Texas Dave’s ’ 
spies! He is watching us! I will pay you a royal 
bonus if you find the mother lode for me! Should 
you desire it, I will go out and verify it! Then I can 
send a man in with a dispatch! Saunders will ride 
in and send it from Barranca, while ‘ Texas Dave ’ 
is fooling around at Caliente! In this way, I will have 
Larue’s instructions before Dave returns!” 

“ But, how shall we be absent together? We might 
be followed!” said Raoul, growing pale,, as he saw 
his enemy at last drifting within his reach. 

“ I can meet you secretly ! No one must know ! I 
will apparently leave for a visit to the camp at the 
foot of the mountains! I am my own master here! ” 
“ Very good! ” said Raoul. “ You watch the camp 
now and I will begin my tracing up of the outcrop- 
pings to-morrow morning! ” 

“ This must be a dead secret! ” growled Julian. 

“ It will be! ” firmly answered his brother. 


CHAPTER IX. 

THE SECRET MESSENGER — “HE IS SIR JULIAN, NOW ” 

THE TRAP SET— ALONE IN THE FOREST — MISS- 
ING — THE RIDERLESS HORSE ‘ THIS 

IS INDIANS’ WORK.” 

There was joy in Dave Ross’s heart, as the hardy 
frontiersman pushed smartly homeward along (he 
lonely road toward Coyote! The prospect of a week 
at his terrestrial Paradise in Caliente caused him to 
forget all his secret wrath at Julian Hawtrey’s double 
dealing. 

“A colder hearted brute never walked!” mused 
Dave, as he reflected how callously Julian had ignored 
any claims of the young engineer, whose skillful work 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


157 


had brought Fortune’s golden shower tumbling down 
upon “ Cunnel Hawtry.” 

“ Texas Dave ” well knew now that the Bear Valley 
Mine was to be a success beyond his wildest hopes. 

And yet, blithe at the prospect of a week’s rest with 
his beloved spouse, who now rejoiced in a new piano, 
Cave proposed to “go over the whole matter” with 
that acute frontier lawyer, Squire Maverick. 

Pressing on, doubling out of the way of the camps 
of the now busy freight line, Dave rode merrily out 
on the second morning, joined by an old frontiers- 
man from “ up the Divide.” 

Disdaining all escort usually, yet, on this Janupry 
morning, Dave Ross was glad of company. For the 
old stockman whom he met, had reported an unusual 
activity of the Jicarilla Apaches. 

“ Thar’s been a deal of signal fires lighted this last 
'-eek. They have found ore or two stray white men 
killed, too, up the ridge! ” said the grizzled old herds- 
man, "as the men pricked smartly eastwardly. ‘‘Cm 
right glad that the troops will be down here in two 
months! ” 

“YeA’ sententiously answered Dave, “and as 
soon as the iron is on the railway, and they open the 
Bear Valley station, the damned Apaches will be cut 
off from crossing down on this side. All that they can 
do is to go far out west and sneak down through San 
Juan County! ” 

While the borderers spoke, Dave’s eyes roved far 
southwardly, to where he saw a single horseman 
now rapidly moving along, in a bee line, cutting off 
a great five-mile bend of the road, and heading direct- 
ly for Bear Valley! 

“Something unusual!” mused Dave. “Perhaps 
it’s some runway horse-thief, some fellow who has 
killed a man and wants no ope to meet him on the 
road! ” 

The lone rider was a mere black speck, miles away 
to the west, before a disturbing thought flashed over 
“ Texas Dave’s ” mind! Was this a secret messenger 
of Julian Hawtrev’s? 

“ He’s a mean coyote — a sneaking dog — that fel- 
low,” mused Dave. 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


*58 

And then, a doubt of the real urgency of his mis- 
sion assailed him! 

Agnostic as he was, “ Texas Dave ” never dreamed 
of the sly wit of Lischen Eschenbach, for the distant 
Mexican lad, riding as if for his life, was the bearer 
of a telegram which Francois Duval had sent out 
to Coyote, with his private instructions. 

The gleaming eyed woman gave her instructions 
to the lad, with a glance which froze the boy’s blood! 

“ A hundred pesos if you get this to the French- 
man, with no one seeing it! Ride off the road all 
the way! If you meet the big Englishman out there, 
you have just come to ask for work at the mine ! Go 
in with no sign of haste! Find the young French- 
man! Give him this letter — secretly — and this tele- 
gram!. If you fail, I’ll have you lassoed and dragged 
till you are dead ! If you bring me his letter back in 
two days after he dispatches you, I’ll give you fifty 
pesos extra! ” 

And, well the wild-eyed “ mozo ” was earning his 
reward, as he strained his eyes toward where huge 
columns of smoke told of the busy human beehive in 
the Painted Mountains! 

Tidings of life and death were in his bosom as the 
boy rode madly on. 

As night fell, he could see the baleful fires of the 
Apaches glittering out on a dozen distant hills. 

But, well he knew that the hundred armed laborers 
and fifty teamsters and workmen at Bear Valley 
could easily beat back any war-party of the Jicarillas 
from behind their log cabin fortifications! It was 
daylight on the second day after “ Texas Dave’s ” 
departure, when Antonio, the mozo, trotted into the 
corral at the mine, lit his cigarette after turning in 
his pony to feed, and then, carefully forewarned, 
awaited the Frenchman’s appearance. 

Raoul Hawtrey was pale and haggard with the 
worries of a sleepless night when he left the head- . 
quarters cabin to assign the fivescore Mexicans to 
their daily labors on the dumps, the new roads, and 
at the prospecting mill and smelter. 

A mighty internal conflict now raged in his heart! 


DROUGHT TO BAY. 


159 


The one golden opportunity was presented, by Dave 
Ross’s absence, for the fierce adventurer to cut his 
way to Judith Larue’s side! 

“ Of what avail all mv plans if Sir Aubrey lingers 
on?” he confessed to himself! 

He had left his brother sleeping in the easy luxury 
of his late hours. 

Secure now in his assured fortune, Julian Hawtrey 
had brought back from Albuquerque, private stores 
and wines worthy of his lofty financial station in posst. 

A ferocious spasm of joy convulsed Raoul’s face, 
as Antonio drew the startled man aside. 

“ She sends you these! ” he said. “ You must not 
betray me! They would kill me!” 

“ Wait here for me! ” cried Monsieur Mont Brun. 
“ You must leave as soon as you have asked for work 
and been denied. Rest your horse! Take a good 
meal! I will come back to you! ” 

Carelessly calling the Capitan of the laborers, 
Raoul said: 

“ See what this wandering lad can do! He wants 
work, he says. Give him a good meal, at any rate, 
poor devil! ” 

Locked in the little assay room, Raoul, with a beat- 
ing heart, tore open the bundle in which Lischen had 
artfully hidden the fatal telegram. 

“By God! Sir Aubrey is dead at last! ” muttered 
Raoul, when he read the lines of the cablegram. 

“ Franqois Duval, Watchmaker, Caliente, New 
Mexico: 

“ My brother died yesterday. A week for news to 
reach England. Notify and answer. Napoleon will 
remain and settle his estate. The Doctor is in charge. 

“ Jacques.” 

The excited man started up in a murderous frenzy! 
There lay his defenseless enemy, sleeping the sleep 
of luxurious sloth, with his broad breast bared to the 
assassin’s knife! 

“Ah! Softly! I forget myself!” was Raoul’s ex- 
clamation, as he drained a glass of brandy. 

In the little cupel furnace, he carefully burned the 


i6o 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


dispatch, and hid a knot of blue ribbon in his breast. 
It was Lischen’s private signal. 

Suddenly, he stooped, for a little slip of paper had 
fluttered down to the floor. 

With a beating heart, he read the lines: 

“My husband died last night! I wait now only 
for you, and my freedom. I shall not leave the ranch 
till you come! Will watch for and intercept all Haw- 
trey’s letters and telegrams. I handle all the mails 
now, as Saunders is away. Send the boy back! I 
will try and open Julian’s mail and telegrams, if any- 
thing comes. Be sure not to betray me! I would 
lose my life! ” 

This paper crackled for a moment in the blazing 
cupel furnace, and then, Raoul Hawtrey walked calm- 
ly out into the cool, fresh air! 

“ To-morrow, to-morrow,” he murmured, “ I will 
make the discovery that he wants. He is Sir Julian 
now! The cold-hearted brute! False and mean to 
Larue, to Dave, to myself, and only seeking now to 
swindle poor old Armijo! To-morrow night I will 
divulge my find, and then — the next day — he shall 
know — more than he does now! His father can tell 
him all!” Laure’s cipher is safe! 

“ Monsieur Mont Brun ” was unusually cheerful 
when he joined the Copper King at the nine o’clock 
breakfast, which “ Sir Julian ” now affected. 

“ All going on well? ” was the Englishman’s casual 
question. 

“ Yes! I will see the gangs started at work on the 
furnace, and then, steal out alone to the northern 
extension!” reflectively said the dark-eved French 
engineer. “ Bremond has described some promising 
indications there! I will take a horse, and a ‘ mozo,’ 
and ride up there! I hope to find the lode which 
showed on its upward curve over the saddle, reap- 
pearing within two miles!” 

“ Then. I’ll hunt to the southward, to-day! ” craftily 
planned Julian. “And ride along the. ore dumps, and 
show myself among the workmen! Be careful that 
you are not followed ! I trust no man alive now, after 
Ross’s dirty tricks! Damn his frontier impudence! 
He shall pay for it yet!” 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


161 

Julian had whistled his two dogs away long before 
Raoul mounted his tough pony. 

He had sharply questioned the Mexican lad. who 
was now lounging idly around the paseo. 

“ There is no work for you here,” he said, in the 
hearing of the Captain. “ But, you can surely get a 
job at sheep herding and shearing down at Coyote! ” 

Closeted for a moment with the lad, Raoul gave 
him a golden Mexican doubloon. 

“ Ride around that hill, and meet me! ” he said. 

A half hour later, Antonio was speeding back to. 
Coyote, with a verbal message. 

“ Tell her that I will be down there inside of two 
weeks! She is simply to wait! That is all! And if 
you make it in two days I will give you another doub- 
loon, when I come! Silence, and I’ll make your for- 
tune, later! ” 

Two hours after, from a high knoll, Raoul Hawtrev 
watched the departing lad striking smartly across the 
plain, directly for Coyote, going as the crow flies. 

And then, finding the burned-out hollow of a great 
standing tree, he lit a bright watchfire, and lay down 
to dream of the trap which should ensnare the man 
whose very name and title he now thirsted for. 

“Cain quarreled only for the first fruits! I will 
have this man’s very life, his name and place, his 
fortune, and perhaps — his sought-for bride! He shall 
feel the vengeance of the dead woman whom his 
father dragged down to a long heartbreak ! It is 
the Marquis de Verneuil who avenges Aglae de Mont 
Brun! He is no brother of mine! ” 

The moody wretch lying there hidden away from 
the sight of man, gloated over the title which now 
was Julian Hawtrey’s lawful heritage! 

The superb estate of Combermere, the annual rent- 
roll, all the advantages of power and place, and. 
lastly, the splendid charms of Judith Larue tempted 
him to a brother’s murder! 

As the evening shadows fell, he stole out from his 
retreat. 

“ How can I do it? ” he muttered, his teeth chat- 
tering, as the gaunt specter of cowardly Murder 
spread its darkened wings over his tortured brain. 


162 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


“ It will come to me — the right way! Let me be 
but once alone with him! ” 

With a fiendish craft, he had toiled in secret, and 
exposed a continuing bed of the precious ore which 
had so quickly allured the covetous Ambroise Larue. 

"This will lure him up here!” he joyously re- 
flected. 

When Raoul met Julian at dinner, he complacently 
eyed the o.o fat bucks and the giant cougar which 
had fallen to the new Baronet’s gun! 

“ I have something far better than this to show 
you! ” he whispered. “ I have found the true vein, 
rising up, two miles to the north! ” 

They were alone, and the luxurious Julian had 
drank deeply of his favorite wines. 

“ Show it to me, to-morrow, then,” said the excited 
Copper King. “ I will rise early with you! You 
can order my horse out, and I will tell the foremen 
that I am going down to inspect the camps at the 
foot of the mountain. You can ride around the ridge, 
westwardly, and wait for me at the Burnt Rocks! 
Then, you can guide me secretly to the newly found 
croppings.” 

“Very good!” complacently remarked the tired- 
out Frenchman. “ I will go and sleep, for, I am worn 
out with uncovering the ledge! ” 

"See here!” sharply said Julian. “We must 
cover up all the croppings again. I do not wish Ar- 
mijo and that sly frontier fox, Dave Ross, to know 
of this! They would, of course, raise their price, and 
rob me! I will see to your reward later! ” 

When Raoul threw himself on his bunk, he lay there, 
like a crouching tiger, his embittered heart panting, 
as the red firelight played upon the massive frame 
of Julian, now amusing himself at a game of solitaire. 

They were alone in the cabin, and Raoul affected 
to sleep, while the saturnine Englishman finished 
“ t’other bottle,” and then staggered heavily to his 
bunk. 

So, side by side, the two alien hearts lay, while 
the whistling night winds shrieked without! 

For hours, Raoul lay silently counterfeiting sleep, 
as the swaying pines above him sang a chorus deeper 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


163 


than the undertones of the grim Greek tragedies. 

For, Murder, Cain’s hellish gift to man, is an im- 
mortal art, a legacy of Hell, the undying curse which 
clings to wealth and the pride of place. 

The morning dawned raw and chilly, and yet 
Raoul Hawtrey was astir betimes. 

Long before the , ease-loving Julian had roused 
from his semi-drunken stupor, the young engineer 
had given his orders for the day. 

The breakfast was finished in a moody silence, for 
chilly winds whirled the light snow around the cup- 
like valley in a feathery mist. 

Raoul ha ! d already pondered over a hundred 
schemes to effect his deed without a name! And yet, 
the moments dragged out, for a restless fever burned 
in his veins! He feared a self-betrayal! 

And still, he affected a due unconcern, as Julian 
filled his pocket-flask, crammed his shooting-coat 
pockets with cigars, and then, buckling on Dave 
Ross’s six-shooter, caught up his double-barreled 
English rifle. 

“ I will now go and tell them that I may sleep at 
the lower camp to-night,” gruffly said the unsuspect- 
ing Julian. “ They may just as well not catch me 
lying! Who knows what spies that fellow Ross has 
set on me! ” 

Raoul was standing a half hour later, in the door 
of the cabin, when Julian rode over from the corral! 

“ I may not return till to-morrow! ” he said, in the 
hearing of the furnace foreman. “ Push everything 
along! I want to get out of here as soon as Ross 
returns! And, I may take you with me! ” 

Slowly, Raoul mounted his pony as Julian dashed 
away down the incline, a commanding and marshal 
figure. 

“ He is Sir Julian now,” moodily mused the crafty 
Gaul, as he trotted away down the ridge. “ He mns, 
never know it! He has gone to his death — the fool! ” 

It was three hours later, when Monsieur Mont 
Brun rode up from a canyon on the western side of 
the ridge, to the secret rendezvous, and found Julian 
stamping his feet and swinging his arms, by the side 
of his fretting horse. 


164 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


“ Let us get along! ” said the Englishman. “ I’ve 
half a notion to go back to the house! It is a piercing 
cold day! ” 

“Follow me!” cried .Raoul in a sharp, decisive 
tone. “ It’s only three-quarters of a mile north, and 
down in a little glen to the east of the main ridge. 
We will be sheltered from the wind, there! ” 

The horses dashed away, with loosened rein, and 
ten minutes later, Raoul drew rein to the right, 
passing a knoll from which they could clearly see 
the end of the railroad grading and the rough shed 
camps of the Copper Company’s freighters. 

“I think that I can get down easily here!” said 
Julian. “ Be careful that no one sees you return! ” 

“I’ll take care of that!” shortly answered Raoul, 
as he leaped f£om his horse, leisurely tying the ani- 
mal. 

“Hurry up!” cried Julian. “My horse stands — 
never mind him! ” 

He tossed his rifle aside, under the shade of a tree, 
and then, unbuckled his pistol belt and its heavy load 
of cartridges. 

“ I want to see how deep this ore is! ” the Copper 
King said, as Raoul produced a pick, a light steel 
bar, and a shovel, from the burned out cleft of a 
pine. 

“ I had hard work to uncover this, alone,” said the 
Frenchman, whose heart was now wildly beating in 
an agonized suspense! “Thank Heaven, the trees 
have fended off the snow! I would have missed the 
ledge, but for this! ” 

The ground was slippery with drenched pine nee- 
dles and a chill rain of freezing drops fell from the 
gloomy branches over them. 

For five minutes, Raoul grimly watched Julian, with 
mighty strokes, breaking up the rotten masses of ore, 
across an uncovered area, from which Raoul had 
scraped the surface muck. 

“ I don’t know how deep it is,” said Raoul, ap- 
proacing the exhausted man with catlike tread. 

“ I’ll soon find out! ” said Julian. “ If it goes four 
feet, then it is a real blanket vein. It shows here 
twenty feet broad!” 


BROUGHT TO BAV. 


165 

Ten minutes later, Julian was buried almost to his 
knees, and then, he slowly turned his head, as he 
said: 

“ Toss me my coat! I’ll take a ” 

There was a heavy, muffled report, as the great 
Webley revolver rang out its message of death, and 
the strong man, shot from behind, pitched forward 
headlong into the little hole which he had himself 
dug! 

Over him, with a savage glare in his eyes, stood the 
murderous coward, who caught but one impotent 
glance of rage and despair from his victim’s wildly 
rolling eyes. 

“ Now, we are quits, Sir Julian! ” shrieked the in- 
censed assassin, as he fired point blank into the 
broad breast of the helpless man. 

With a wild neigh of terror, Julian’s horse dashed 
away down the glen, and, tripping upon a fallen tree 
limb, went rolling over and over down the steep de- 
clivity. 

An awful silence followed! With an energy born 
of despair, Raoul dragged the body downward, to 
where a bluff rose a sheer hundred feet. 

A frenzied coward now, he ran back and picked up 
Julian’s hunting belt! Seizing the bowie knife, he 
drove it deep down between the shoulders of the 
prostrate man. 

“There must be no mistake!” he growled, in his 
frenzy. Then, madly casting the blade far away into 
the canyon, he gave the corpse a last vigorous shove! 

Over and over it fell, with a clattering thud, and 
then the wretched murderer, peering over, saw it 
lodged far below, hundreds of feet away! 

With a frantic haste, he threw the belt and weapon 
after the body! 

“The coat and rifle, too!” he murmured, as he 
tossed them over the bluff. Then, gathering up all 
the three tools, he untied his own trembling steed. 

It was at a turn of the trail, where a dizzy descent 
to the west, made the passage perilous, that he freed 
himself from the burden of the useless implements.^ 
They fell a sheer thousand feet below the ridge! He 
had not forgotten, following out the damned counsels 


1 66 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


of his night vigils, to abstract a few of Julian Haw- 
trey’s own pistol cartridges from the case at the ranch, 
and he now slipped two back in the London-made 
belt! 

He had ridden down out of sight on the west, and 
passed the camp far below the old cabins of the 
watchers, when he stopped in a place of safety, and, 
with his handkerchief, removed every trace of the 
firing of his pistol. . 

Digging a hole, in a soft mudbank, with his boot- 
heel, "he then buried the telltale rag, after tearing it 
in pieces. 

It was not later than eleven o’clock, when he rode 
in a zigzag course from ore dump to ore dump, from 
the road cuttings to the various shaft holes, and 
busied himself calmly superintending the labors of 
the plodding Mexicans. 

But, a new tenant was in his bosom now — the ring- 
ing voice of fear-awakened conscience, crying for 
a brother’s blood at his hands. 

He was dumbly exhausted in his mind and yet he 
feared to leave his men! For, he now craved the 
excitement of drink! 

‘‘My God! If I should betray myself!” he mut- 
tered, as he gladly crouched with the men, and shared 
their noontide coffee! 

The many questions of the gang foremen had 
diverted him, and yet, he already felt a horrible gnaw- 
ing desire to revisit the spot of the murder! Had 
he left any telltale evidence? 

“ If the new working is discovered, I must deny ‘ 
all knowledge! ” he mused, “ and, Ross will think that 
Julian ” (how that name grated!) “ was slyly exploit- 
ing the new ground himself! ” 

While he lingered irresolute, a horseman dashed 
madly up! 

“ Rally every man! ” cried the American corral mas- 
ter. “ The Indians have attacked our lower camp! ” 

The ridge soon rang with warning cries, as the 
excited Mexicans raced back to Bear Valley for their 
arms. 

“Go on! Go back!” cried the corral master to 
Raoul. “ ‘ Montana Bill ’ has put our men in place! 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


167 


I’ll warn all the other men! Get back and help him! ” 

Raoul, brave enough now, dashed away like the 
wind, and in fifteen minutes, rode into the alarmed 
headquarters, where the' startled men were already 
armed and rallied. 

The outer ridges of the little valley were being 
held bv well-armed pickets, who were all posted on 
the high ridges around the cuplike depression. 

There was a short conference, when Woods, the 
corral master, reported that all the men were safely 
in. 

A teamster had seen the firing below, when half 
way down the grade, and then, cutting loose a mule, 
had galloped back with the first alarm! 

There was no immediate danger now, for a hundred 
and fifty fairly well-armed men were busied at quickly 
making Bear Valley defensible. 

There was a store of ammunition on hand, for- a 
hard struggle! 

But, the question of saving the men cut off at the 
lower camp, and of sending for succor, now presented 
itself! 

“ Montana Bill,” the head smelter, an old Indian 
fighter, was elected commander-in-chief with Mr. 
Mont Brun to handle the Spanish-speaking forces, 
Raoul onlv confessing as vet, to a little broken Eng- 
lish. 

“ We must smuggle out a messenger to get the 
news to Coyote, and then, the stockmen will attack 
the Indians from the rear, while we fight them, in 
front! ” 

Two brave Mexicans soon stole out of the camp, 
mounted on the fleetest horses, with directions to 
make a detour and reach Coyote, riding for very life! 

And then, the thirty Americans under “ Montana 
Bill ” decided to make a careful sortie, and cut out 
the beleagured teamsters below! 

A rearguard of fifty of the Mexicans followed 
them to cover the drawing off of the men below! 

“ You will find El Capitan Julian below at the team- 
sters’ camp. He is an old soldier! ” said Raoul, with 
a feigned anxiety. “ Obey all his orders! He will 
bring you through all right!” 


i68 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


Secure with seventy men, twenty of these on guard 
at the crests, and fifty in reserve, Raoul Hawtrey at 
last sat down to a wolfishly devoured meal! 

His eyes were thick and bloodshot when he left 
the brandy bottle! For in his heart, the tide of his 
life was throbbing the refrain, “ Sir Raoul Hawtrey! 
Sir Raoul Hawtrey! ” 

He longed to leave the accursed scene of his dam- 
nable deed! 

“Yes! Yes! ” he mused. “ They will soon come to 
help us! Ross will be back soon! And I, wi 1 ! tarn the 
property over to him and go on as far as New York! 
I must get to Caliente and cable this news. But, they 
must find him first! I dare not leave till he is found! 
But, I am saved! For they will all say, ‘ This is the 
Indians’ zvork! ’ ” 

A line of sentinels was posted on the inclines of 
the road, left by the reserve, and, just before the night 
fell, a wild cry went up the line, “Saved!” 

It was midnight when the trampling of many feet 
aroused the haggard Raoul. 

“We have beaten off the Indians! They left five 
dead behind! ” cried “ Montana Bill.” “ The men are 
all here safe — only one wounded! ” 

“And, Captain Hawtrey — where is he?” cried 
Raoul, in well-affected concern. 

“Ah!” cried “Montana Bill,” dropping his rifle 
butt. “ He never reached the camp, poor fellow! 
They may have carried him off for ransom, or else to 
burn him! There were about sixty mounted Indians 
in the gang, and they scattered and went south. We 
have already sent three mounted men on to Coyote 
for help!” 

Monsieur Mont Brun had forgotten his patois in 
the excitement. 

“ He must be found, dead or alive! ” shouted Raoul. 
I must break through and cable this news to Europe! 
I am only a subordinate! ” 

“ Well! ” sadlv cried Bill, “ we can do nothing but 
wait till daylight! Our men need rest and sleep! 
We might run into an ambuscade! ” 

“ See to the men! ” cried the Frenchman. “ Bring 
all the chiefs of parties over to my cabin, for a con- 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 1 69 

ference after the men have supper, and let the rest 
go to sleep! ” 

“All right! I’ll see to the guard reliefs and watch 
all night!” said Bill. “They may have cut Captain 
Hawtrey off and murdered him, or he may have got 
away into the hills, and he might come in bv morn- 
ing! He had a fine horse and he was well armed! ” 

It was three o’clock before the council of war ter- 
minated. Raoul frankly told the astonished men, “ I 
speak English well! I was ordered by the owners only 
to talk French, so as to keep outsiders from annoying 
me. Now, when we find Captain Hawtrey, or his 
body, I must get into Caliente and telegraph for a 
successor — if he is dead! I have no power, only to 
handle the scientific part of the work here! ” 

With a guard of ten men around the cabin. Raoul 
slept heavily until the dawn! He now knew of the gal- 
lant defense of the teamsters behind their hay bales, 
and of “ Montana Bill’s ” killing one Indian and wing- 
ing another. 

“ Thank God! ” mused the now self-composed mur- 
derer, as he saw a strong search party leave at day- 
break. “I am not suspected!” 

He left the active command to the brave “ Mon- 
tana Bill.” 

It was four o’clock, on a day of continued alarms, 
when the corral master led the party back. “ Here 
is his horse, wounded, bruised, and with the saddle 
stripped off! ” cried the frontiersman. 

“ Captain Hawtrey is still missing! It looks as if he 
had tried to reach the hills, and had been shot from his 
horse, or else thrown, when wounded.” 

Around the watchfires, they decided to await re- 
enforcements before a further search! 

And then', secure in his infamous victory, the man 
now heir to a stolen title, gave way to secret, heavy 
drinking, to drown his fears! 

It was four davs after the attack when sixty mount- 
ed vaqueros dashed in from Coyote! 

Their leader sought out Raoul Hawtrey at once! 

“ Mr. Mount Brown,” he said, “ here’s some urgent 
telegrams for Sir Julian Hawtrey! ” 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


170 

Without a word, the Frenchman secluded himself 
and opened the packet. 

There were full telegrams from Breniond at New 
York, ordering Julian and Raoul to leave Ross in 
charge and proceed to New York to meet the new 
manager to be selected by Ambroise Larue. 

And from the London solicitors, there was a dis- 
patch to the man who had died, unknowing the gold- 
en shower of Fortune. 

• I 

“ Sir Aubrey Hawtrev died at his villa at Paris 
seven days ago. You are the present Sir Julian Flaw- 
trev! Return at once for succession and probate of 
will. Our congratulations. Answer, with instruc- 
tions as to Combermere and the personal affairs of 
1 he deceased.” 

The signature, “ Walter Addiscombe, Solicitor, . 
Ample Bar, London,” gave to the murderer his 
needed cue. • 

Two hours later, Raoul knew all of the driving of 
the Indians south, of the discovery of the body of the 
boy Antonio, his returning messenger, stripped and 
scalped, of the raising of the settlers to pursue the 
Indians, and of the speedy coming of United States 
troops! 

The devil fight9 for me! ” mused Raoul, as he now 
patiently awaited the arrival of “ Texas Dave.” 

And then, sadly, he gave orders for a hundred men 
to be spread out, a yard apart, to skirmish northward 
over the ridge* in search of the man of whose safety 
all men had now despaired! 

“Find him!” sadly said Raoul. “Nothing else 
shall be done! To-morrow, we will send all the others 
out ! ” 

It was late in the afternoon when a single horse- 
man spurred down the ridge. 

“ They are bringing him in! ” he cried, as he drew 
up his steed. “ He had tried to get up the ridge! 
They evidently shot him off his horse, and the body 
rolled down the cliff out of their reach, for. it was 
neither robbed nor scalped! The saddle-girth must 
have burst, for his gun. belt, coat, and revolver were 
all scattered around! He had not even time to fire his 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


171 

gun! They were secretly working down to surprise 
us! Poor fellow! He was shot twice! ” 

No one wondered at the young Frenchman’s fran- 
tic grief! 

“ Bear him in here! ’’ he cried. “ No hand but mine 
shall touch him! My friend, my noble employer! ” 

Before the next night, Julian Hawtrey lav in a 
hastily dug grave, under a lonely clump of pines. 

Prowling animals had already disfigured the manly 
and symmetrical frame, and, only a circle of rough 
men, with bared heads, stood mute around the grave, 
as “ Sir Julian ” was laid away from the sight of men, 
with neither bell, book, nor candle! 

“ I must leave this accursed country forever! ’’ 
cried Raoul. “ I did not come here to fight battles! ” 

Arid, all the force now knew of the empty honors 
which had descended to the strong man, cut off in the 
flower of youth! 

The regular work had been resumed, when “ Texas 
Dave ” rode sadly into the camp a week later. 

All the stockmen had gone home, save a mounted 
escort of ten men. 

“ I learned the sad news from the courier,’’ said 
“ Dave ” Ross, after he had exchanged full confi- 
dences with the now dejected Raoul. “ I sent off a 
man, at once, and instantly cabled the news of the 
Colonel’s death to Larue and to the Cattle Company, 
and I also telegraphed to Bremond at New York! 
What are We to do?” 

“There is but one thing left to do!’’ almost 
shrieked the Frenchman. “You say that Larue ca- 
bled his acceptance of the proposition to purchase 
‘the extensions! I must telegraph to Sir Julian’s 
solicitors, ahd, as soon as we hear from Larue, I will 
leave you in charge, hasten to New York. City, report 
by cable, and then, go to Sheffield. The new manager 
will have full directions for you! You and Sefior 
Armijo mtist handle the two properties, till I get to 
Sheffield!” 

“And, poor Colonel Sir Julian’s property?” sadly 
demanded “ Texas Dave.” 

“ Box it, seal it up, make a list of it all! I will send 
out instructions from his lawyers! As for me, I will 


172 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


pack up, go down to Coyote, take that poor widow, 
and go on to Europe! Poor Julian! He wished her 
to go home! ” 

“Thar’s a curse on that Cattle Company!” 
mourned “ Texas Dave.” “ First, Major Gibson — 
then, Eschenbach — now, Colonel Hawtrey! ” 

And four days later “ Texas Dave ” said “ good- 
by ” to his agitated partner, standing by Sir Julian 
Hawtrey’s grave, under the moaning pines. 

The dead Baronet’s effects had all been duly sealed 
and listed, the papers all turned over to Raoul, and 
a half company of United States soldiers were sta- 
tioned above and below the ranch. 

‘‘ You can explain all to Ambroise Larue,” said 
Dave. “ There’ll be two thousand railroad men work- 
ing here in a month! The Indian scare is over! I’ll 
have this grave well fenced off! I suppose the law- 
yers will have him removed to England! God! what 
a brilliant fortune he missed! And, he evidently was 
trying to get back and warn the camp! He died for 
us all! ” 

When Raoul stepped into the ambulance, he turned 
to the Texan. 

“ I’m sick of tragedy and horror! I shall never see 
this camp again! You will be the richest man in Ne\v 
Mexico in a year! Come and see me at Sheffield — or 
over in Paris. I will wait and post the new manager 
in New York! Telegraph me — Astor House! ” 

The escort rode up, and then, Raoul handed out 
to Dave Ross his heavy Webley pistol and the car- 
tridge belt. 

“ There's the other English pistol ! You now have 
the only two in the world! I have left you all the’ 
ammunition, and the cases, have the directions to 
order more! ” 

“ Good-by, my brave, honest pardner! ” cried Dave. 
“ Here is my own — in exchange — keep it as a token! 
You have done your duty by poor Cojonel Hawtrey! 
I'll have to come over to Sheffield now, I suppose, 
with Don Andres Armijo’s power of attorney. Tell 
Larue that we accept! ” 

“ A gallant, noble fellow! ” mused Raoul, as the 
wagon bore him swiftly on. > 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


173 


Four days afterward, in the same vehicle, he left 
Coyote station at night, to be hurried to the railway 
at Caliente. As they drove past Eschenbach’s lonely 
grave, Lischen threw her arms around her lover, 
screened in the dark interior. 

“ Another life opens for us! Happiness — delight — 
far from this accursed frontier! ” 

And, glad of any human protection, Sir Raoul Haw- 
,"rey folded the wanton to his breast! 


CHAPTER X. 

THE INSURANCE COMPANY’S PROTEST — ORDERED TO 

SHEFFIELD “THE CIENFUEGOS COPPER COMPANY, 

LIMITED” — -A LITTLE RUN OVER TO PARIS 

Raoul Hawtrey sternly warded off all the excited 
gossips of Caliente, as he hastily prepared his personal 
belongings for the voyage to New York, on his arrival 
' r the town, seven days after leaving the horror- 
haunted camp. 

No one noticed the departure of old Francois Du- 
val, the watchmaker, who gladly accepted the unsus- 
pected murderer’s invitation to visit New Orleans, at 
his expense. 

And sn. the old Frenchman, a mere pawn in the 
u ands of the wily Raoul, escorted Lischen Eschen- 
bach, now a silent Niobe, to Trinidad, via Alamosa, 
while Raoul, at “Texas Dave’s” earnest pleading, 
took the road south to Santa Fe, for a long business 
conference with Don Andres Armijo. 

It was easv, bv Taos, for th^ rH-^anded Conner 
King to rejoin the two other travelers awaiting him 
at Trinidad. 

Through Francois Duval, the craftv Baronet, in 
posse , had, learned every detail of the final scattering 
of the band of Jicarillas, to whose hands the untimely 
death of Colonel Julian Hawtrey was now publicly 
ascribed! 

Officials, contractors, frontiersmen, politicians, and 
journalists were all busied in rushing in troops, by 
popular clamor, and the incipient railwav company 
saw golden profits in this miniature frontier war! 


174 


L BOUGHT TO BAY. 

Covered with plaudits for his bravery in defending 
Bear Valley, Sir Raoul Hawtrey gladly saw Caliente 
fade away behind him forever. 

He had not forgotten to visit Mrs. “ Dave ” Ross, 
and that city Solon, “ judge ” Maverick ! There was 
not a whisper left behind him to excite the faintest 
suspicion. He was still “ Mr. Mount Brown ” to the 
simple frontier folk. 

And, the cowardly hound breathed freer, two days 
later, when he had concluded his final conferences 
with Don Andres Armijo, at Santa Fe. 

“ Mi amigo!” said the courtly old Don, delighted 
at Raoul’s fluent Spanish. “ There is but one thing to 
do! David Ross must temporarily replace the lament- 
ed Senor Julian Hawtrey, in charge of the new Sheep 
Corppany, which now succeeds the old Cattle Com- 
pany. I will aid him with funds and credit, and give 
him my advice. I could not well act for them, as I 
am on the other side of the business. You, my dear 
sir, must bear my letters to the Company in London. 
They should have a meeting at once — they must cable 
their orders to ‘Texas Dave!’ I will sustain him 
until you arrive! You must address them and explain 
all! The death of our poor friend and partner will 
hasten the railr.oad building, as a large force of sol- 
diers will be moved in here! ” 

The Don paused and reflectively sipped his claret. 

“ As to the two copper mines, I leave all to the 
sagacity of Mr. Ambroise Larue and yourself! ‘ Tex- 
as Dave ’ can come on with my full power of attorney, 
when the Cattle Company sends a duly authorized 
manager on! The new manager of the Bear Valley 
Mine can relieve Dave, up in the Painted Mountains! 
I would suggest that when the new man examines 
our ground, north and south, that the whole property 
be merged as one company. I will give or take — 
‘ Texas Dave ’ will follow me, or, I will mf et Mr, La- 
rue in capital, leaving all the scientific handling to 
him, his new rnanager. and you! Dave and I intend 
to set off a tenth (undivided) of the new ground for 
you! ” 

The courtly old Don was filled with sorrow as 
Raoul announced his final decision: 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


‘75 


“ I shall never return here! Indian fighting, assas- 
sination, and these sudden alarms are not in my line 
of life! I shall probably associate myself with Larue’s 
great English business.” 

“ I am sorry, very ^orry,” sighed the Mexican. 
“ You have been the brains of the whole thing! ” 

Skimming along northward to Trinidad^ Raoul 
leaned back in his cushioned car seat, with an exquis- 
ite sense of enjoyment! His cowardice had built up 
an impregnable suit of invincible armor over the 
shrinking scoundrel’s form. 

“There is not even a trace of suspicion!” he 
chuckled. 

With due skill, he had directed the telegraph and 
mail authorities to return all matters pertaining to 
Sir Julian Hawtrey to the solicitors of the deceased 
gentleman in London. 

A cautionary telegram to the bankers of the Bear 
Valley Copper Mine and the Cattle Company, at New 
York, prevented anyone from drawing funds! 

“ It is all a sealed book, now! ” he mused. “ The 
secret is buried in that nameless grave, out there un- 
der the sighing pines! And, the dead never return! ” 

He had divided his rough frontier garb among 
the escort vaqueros at Caliente, and now, Monsieur 
Mont Brun was again a tourist a la mode, the type of 
Parisian elegance. 

A victorious smile wreathed his lips as the train, 
dashing around the southern point of the Taos 
Range, shut out forever from his sight the now hate- 
ful Painted Mountains, whose grim hollows had 
echoed to the sound of that deadly revolver. 

“ I am safe at last! ” he exulted. “ The men at the 
camp were all blindly hoodwinked!- Even ‘Texas 
Dave’ knows nothing! Neither Don Andres Armijo 
nor the Caliente gossips, have suspected a murder! 
At the Coyote station, the Rancho Cienfuegos, Es- 
chenbach is lying dead in a drunkard’s grave; I have 
the sly, rapturous Lischen with me! She knows of 
nothing but the stolen telegram! Antonio, the mes- 
senger bov, is dead and scalped! He was even 
stripped naked! Old Duval believed me only intrigu- 
ing for my profit! And now, I will keep Lischen and 


i 7 6 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


Laure both ignorant of the murder! Laure Duver- 
nay is in my power! She knows nothing damaging 
to me, and she has, at least, robbed Sir Aubrey, if 
not hastened his death! As for the Baronetcy, I will 
let that hunt me up! Julian’s solicitors and the Haw- 
trey family lawyers can find me later! The succes- 
sion is safe now! Then there is Ambroise Larue and 
la belle Judith’ After a polite visitc incognito, to Com- 
bermere, the great Sheffield millionaire can certify 
that my dead brother took me out to America, as 
Monsieur de Mont Brun, for his own profit, a contriv- 
ance devised only to foil speculators and frontier 
prospectors! Voila, nne victoire! ” 

And then, he gave himself up to a wildly gloating 
joy over the easy accomplishment of his life revenge! 

“ And, not a single smile shall show my glee! Even 
old Achille Duprat is to be kept in the dark! ” 

He had accustomed himself to softly repeating, “Sir 
Raoul Hawtrey, Marquis de Verneuil! ” long before 
he rejoined the aged Frenchman and his hypocritical 
fellow-traveler at Trinidad. 

“ Wait, only wait, till we leave New Orleans! ” said 
Raoul, softly, as he caught the flush of the woman’s 
burning eyes, under her somber black veil. “ We will 
go on, via Chicago, on a honeymoon trip to New 
York! No one knows us! Va bane! Only wait! ” 

And, the happy mourners grinned in their horrid 
glee, as the happy widow demurely dropped her eyes, 
and rejoined the watchmaker. 

With a watchful craft, Raoul had bewildered old 
Duval with many commissions, when they parted at 
New Orleans. 

The gift of a thousand dollars enabled the old fel- 
low to replenish his paltry stock, and also to have a 
glimpse of the faded glories of the French Quarter. 

“ You shall have every one of your orders fulfilled! 
You will have every interest watched for, and, you 
will some day return to our mountains! ” the grateful 
old dupe cried. 

“ Remember! Send all to the care of Achille Du- 
prat, No. 5 Rue Paradis, Paris,” said Raoul, and the 
old man tapped his notebook in reply. 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 1 7 7 

“ Parfaitement compris! ” he said, as he took a seri- 
ously sympathetic adieu of the sighing widow. 

Half an hour later, Monsieur and Madame Leroy 
were laughing over their champagne in a private 
compartment of the train, sweeping on toward Chi- 
cago. 

No more loverlike couple ever descended at the 
Hotel Vautrain, in West Twenty-third Street, New 
York City, than the vivacious Leroys (by rumor), an 
immensely wealthy French couple from San Fran- 
cisco. 

Madame Leroy was now arrayed en grand dame, 
and the February breeze had only brightened the 
roses on her blooming cheeks. 

The trappings and habiliments of woe had all been 
cast away forever at Chicago, where many a “ light- 
ning change ” act occurs, in these later days of love 
and lucre. 

But, the sedate “ Monsieur de Mont Brun ” also 
had a single apartment of his own at the Astor House, 
where he was' registered alone, and there, he spent 
his days in carefully going over all the correspondence 
and telegrams now gathered up from the French 
Consulate-General and the two Companies’ offices. 

While his days were given up to the serious busi- 
ness at hand, Raoul at night dashed madly into every 
pleasure now opened to the liberal purse, with Lischen 
Heffner at his side. 

For, the reckless woman now knew of the unques- 
tioning welcome which awaited her in Miilhausen, 
only provided that she came not home empty-handed. 

Old Achille Duprat had forwarded the letters, in 
which an ingenious euphemism had covered all her 
eccentric past. Raoul delighted in the woman’s 
pleasure-loving company. 

Long years of brutal neglect had erased every 
spark of womanly feeling, save her undying maternal 
affection for the one child whose baby smile she had 
known. 

The murderer blessed this guilty alliance, this 
amourette de voyage, for, in every gay and glittering 
scene, with wine and Lischen’s wits, he forgot that 
lonely grave in the Painted Mountains, and heard no 


i7» 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


more the sorrowful wail of the mountain pines! 

When the newly made Baronet had read all Laure 
Duvernay’s historiettes of the demise of Sir .Aubrey 
Hawtrey, he smiled grimly. 

I will leave the affair between them! Richepin 
and Madame la Comtesse have a common bond of 
secrecy now! Allans! C'etait tres bien fait!” 

The long wrangle over Doctor Richepin’s enor- 
mous accounts and expenses, the astonishment at the 
dying Baronet’s written disposition of all the furni- 
ture of the villa at Fontainebleu, the transfer to Laure 
of the paid-up lease for two years, and the gift of all 
his personal jewels and movables in France to Mad- 
ame la Comtesse Laure Duvernay — all these things 
had vastly diverted the late Baronet’s solicitors. 

And, both the Doctor and “ the faithful guardian,” 
Laure Duvernay, easily obtained both the sympathy 
and the favorable decision of the French authorities, 
eager to shear the stranger! 

It was left for the Dirccteur des Pompes Funebres 
to roll up an account for the stately funeral, which 
made the teeth of the First Secretary of the English 
Legation rattle in holy horror! 

There was one other Gallic tribute to be extorted 
from the dead patrician. 

The removal of the Baronet’s remains to the family 
mausoleum at Combermere was the last chance for a 
slice of the foreigner’s British gold! 

“ I suppose that they will deny it over there, also! ” 
sullenly said Raoul, as he laid the letter finally away. 

The “ it ” so coldly phrased, was that bodv lying 
out there under the faraway pines of New Mexico! 

“ I must prevent this being removed for a year or 
so! ” mused the new Copper King, as he carefully in- 
dited a cablegram to the waiting woman who was as 
yet all ignorant of the tragedy of Bear Valley: 

“ Coming, by England, to Paris. Home in a month. 
May return here.” 

“ That teils her nothing! And, she can hear the 
news when I arrive!” grimly decided Raoul, with a 
sudden self-protective shudder! He feared to face 
those glittering eyes which read every secret of his 
heart so easily. 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


179 


“ She can never know that I was present when — 
u'hcn he died! ” used Raoul. “ And she must never 
know! ” 

The fool, Fortune’s puppet of the moment, never 
knew of the details of Sir Aubrey Hawtrey’s last ill- 
ness! And, in fact, none of her chosen friends ever 
learned from Madame Duvernay of the sealed en- 
velope found under Sir Aubrey’s pillow. 

It contained the key of his traveling cabinet de toil- 
lettc. 

Scrawled in the voluptuary’s own hand, were the 
words: “ You will find your diamond necklace money 
there — a hundred thousand francs. I had hoped to 
clasp it on your neck! Take it, and welcome! ” 

The dying cynic had chuckled as he thought, “ It’s 
a barefaced robbery of that damned business snob, 
Julian! If I could blow up Combermere, I would 
crawl over there on my hands and knees, to do it! 
He’s a cad — and a bubble promoter! ” 

Which legacy of love, was never wafted over the 
ocean to the man who was, for two weeks, a Baronet 
and the lord of fair Combermere. 

With a crafty thriftiness, Laure Duvernay had 
called her drudging sister to be the watchdog of the 
Villa Duvernay, when she was secure in her easily 
gotten succession. 

“ I will await Raoul’s return here,” the pretty 
ci-devant widow mused, before her charming foyar. 
“ And if he comes not, then ” 

It was easy to see that it would be “ not Lancelot, 
but another!” 

For, Madame la Comtesse was now bicn lancee! 

The mysterious eclat of her dashing campaign had 
surrounded her pretty head with an aureole of the 
Venus Anyadomene. 

And so, untrue to each other, even in sin, the 
parted lovers awaited a reunion, while Monsieur le 
Docteur Richepin chased the charming solitude of 
the pretty enchantress. 

But, with his keen mind diligently set to the task, 
Raoul Hawtrey studied over the latest dispatches 
of Bremond, addressed jointly to Julian Hawtrey and 
himself. 


i8o 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


“ I must be ready for the coming of this Ralph 
Evans!” mused the new Copper King. “A Welsh- 
man, a great smelter of ores, the second superintend- 
ent at Sheffield, and an agent bearing full powers. 
He must not suspect the existence of Madame Leroy! 
A word from him to Judith Larue, and then, good-by 
to my golden future!” 

And soon, the brief, stern words of old Ambroise 
Larue’s cablegram rang out like a bugle call: 

“ Come here at once. Hold Evans at New York. 
Telegraph Ross to keep in charge. Will send Evans 
final orders on your arrival. Answer date of your 
sailing. Will meet you at Liverpool! ” 

“ So, he is deeply interested! ” cried Raoul. “ Now, 
my millionaire partner, as Julian’s heir, I can meet 
you at last on equal terms! For, I have his name, 
his fortune, his mine, and I will have his chosen 
bride!” 

There were but three days left for rapid work ! 

And then, closing up all his business at the French 
Consulate, telegraphing his orders out to Ross, Mon- 
sieur Leroy engaged a first-class passage on the 
“ Bourgogne ” for Mrs. Lischen Heffner, in her own 
name. 

The handsome scoundrel unwound Lischen’s arms 
from his neck, the next day, as she sobbed in her 
pretty cabin. 

“No tears!” he passionately murmured. “Here 
is what I promised you! With this twenty- 
five thousand francs, you will be a queen in Miil- 
hausen! No awkward questions will be asked! The 
way is made smooth! Weave your own fairy tale! 
It will be believed, I assure you! ” he laughed. <r And 
keep this money in your own hands, out of your old 
husband’s reach!” 

“Trust to me!” the woman said, fiercely. “And 
vou?” 

“ I will delay two weeks in England. Within a 
month I shall call on the old priest, and send for you! 
After that, our course is plain sailing! Here is five 
hundred francs pin monev, for the vovage! ” 

Standing on the dock, Raoul mused as he watched 
her receding form. 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


181 

“ Fine feathers make fine birds! She is the equal 
of anv of them — the light-heeled sisters! And, I max 

need her ye. ! ” 

■ He leiped into his carriage and drove back to the 
Astor House gayly. 

“ After all, what is a thousand pounds, to a man 
zcith tzventy thousand a year? I have got rid of her 
easily! She knows nothing, and, she would die for 
me! ” 

It was even so! The only one who had crossed his 
path to love him was the storm-tossed woman, bound 
to a place of shelter, full-handed, and with the secret 
of her shame locked in her heart! 

For, her child now eagerly awaited her! 

And, Lischen Heffner raised her hands in a sudden 
vow: 

“ The girl shall never know! ” 

When Raoul Hawtrey returned to the Astor House 
he was strangely light at heart ! 

Always fairly abstemious, following the guarded 
prudence of the Frenchman, who measures out his 
dissipations, jusqu ’ d la dernier gout, Raoul had lately 
indulged freely in wine, under the guidance of the 
pleasure-loving widow. 

“I have not betrayed myself, so far!” mused 
Raoul. “ Thank Heaven, in a month I can hedge 
myself with the dignity of Sir Raoul Hawtrey, a 
mourner a la mode! ” 

He had dropped “ Monsieur Leroy ” forever! And 
so, the little cozy French hotel on Twenty-third Street 
mourned for their “ star boarders.” 

“Curious metamorphosis of womanhood!" 
thought Raoul, lying at ease in his rooms. “ I found 
her a mere sad-eved, spiritless drudge! And now! " 
he laughed, “ wine and pleasure, dress and monev. 
freedom and her own unbridled deviltry, have brought 
back the snap to her eves and the lazy voluptuosity 
to her tiger nature! And why not? Formed for 
man’s pleasure after all. woman’s only metier! She 
will hoodwink her gruff, old hdsband, and lead him a 
gay dance! But, she really loves her child! Now, for 
a last month’s masquerade as ‘ Monsieur de Mont 
Brun! ’ Thank Heaven, old Larue is a tower of re- 


182 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


spectability! He will certify to the business reasons 
for which I assumed the name, dictated by the pru- 
dence of my wealthy employers! No! I can now defy 
the very devil himself! ” 

And yet, the murderer’s heart beat strangely when 
a ringing knock brought him to his feet! 

There was the telegraphed announcement of' the 
arrival of the'“ Oceanic” at Quarantine! 

“ Good! ” cried the happy Copper King. “ One 
day with Ralph Evans, and then, out on the ocean, 

I am free from all possible suspicion, and can snap 
my fingers at any inquiry! For, Ambroise Larue will 
defend his easily gotten millions!.” 

“ There are two gentlemen below, who will give no 
names, but desire to see you on the most important 
business! ” said the lingering callboy. 

“ Very good! I will go down! ” gravely remarked 
Monsieur Mont Brun. 

Since leaving New Orleans, Raoul had dropped un- 
concernedly into his easy English. There was no 
further need of any linguistic concealment. 

And yet, Raoul Hawtrey was armed at all points 
as he bowed to two serious-looking men of affairs. 

In a secluded corner of the writing-room, Raoul 
calmly said: 

“ At your service, gentlemen! ” 

The one, was a middle-aged person of a legal as- 
pect, the other, quite plainly showed the medical man 
in his semi-paternal manner. 

“ We represent the Lancashire Life Insurance Com- 
pany,” said the lawyer, presenting two neatly en- 
graved cards. “You may or may not know, Mon- 
sieur Mont Brun, that the late Sir Julian Hawtrey’s 
life was insured for a very large sum, in our New 
York office! ” 

And now, the Frenchman’s brain was working like 
lightning as he cast up his first line of defense. 

“Pardon!” he blandly remarked. “My relations 
with the gentleman were simply those of a scientific 
expert! I joined Monsieur Bremond and himself here, 
after their stay of three weeks in New York City, and 
I am totally ignorant of all the private affairs of my 
employer! ” 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


* 8 3 


“ Precisely! ” purred Doctor Lomax, as he gazed 
at Lawyer Endicott. “ Naturally you would not be 
interested as a beneficiary, but, one hundred thousand 
dollars is a very large sum! It is true that Monsieur 
Bremond was the agent in taking out the policies 
to the benefit of Ambroise Larue, Esquire, of Shef- 
field. Now, we have cabled over to Bremond, who 
refers us to you for all the particulars of the death ! ” 

Raoul Hawtrev’s blood coursed back to his startled 
heart! 

“ I can give you a newspaper, the “ Caliente Jour- 
nal,” of New Mexico, with the fullest public accounts 
of the Indian raid, in which the lamented gentleman 
lost his life,” said Raoul, with extreme politeness. 
“ Further than that, I should decline to discuss the 
affair without explicit orders from Mr. Larue, now 
my principal, in all my ' professional work! Mr. La- 
rue’s agent, Ralph Evans, arrives here to-night, on 
the ‘ Oceanic.’ He is going out to take full charge! 
You might see him! ” 

“ He would know nothing of this strangely sudden 
death, coming from England! ” snapped the lawyer. 

Mr. Philip Endicott was visibly disgruntled. 

“Certainly not!” suavely answered Raoul, rising. 
“But, he could authorize me to confer with you! 
Otherwise, I shall be obliged to await Mr. Larue’s 
orders! He is a man of the most extreme business 
caution! ” 

“ Precisely! ” purred the Doctor. “ I have no 
doubt that Mr. Evans will oblige us! You see, we 
have no proof of the death, only a mere surmise! We 
received a cablegram of a death claim from Mr. La- 
rue.” 

“ I presume that the matter will be duly adjusted 
through the home office,” said Raoul. “ I will go and 
bring you the journal.” 

Fifteen minutes later, the excited Frenchman bowed 
his visitors out. 

“ Of course, Monsieur Mont Brun,” said the lawyer, 
“ you know that if you refuse to give us full details, 
we will go out and make an ex parte investigation, 
as to the cause of death, and, we are entitled by our 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


184 

local laws, to verify the corpse, as being truly that of 
the late Baronet! ” 

“ Whatever Mr. Larue authorizes. I will cheerfully 
do to aid you!” said Raoul. “And, Mr. Evans will 
be here to-morrow, in conference with me! I will 
refer it all to him! ” 

When the two Americans watched Raoul Hawtrey 
quietly leave the room, the lawyer whispered: 

“ There is something furtive about that fellow! We 
will look more closely into this! It is a rough trip in 
winter, out into the wild mountains of New Mexico, 
but, I presume, that a thorough investigation will be 
made! I shall insist upon a very searching one! ” 
said Endicott, as they walked down to their cab. 

For hours, Raoul pondered upon this disturbing 
visit. 

“ Bah! ” he cried, finally, in the reaction of his active 
intellect. “ They will hear no accusing cry from their 
dead witness! The revolver did its work too well! 
But, they mean to be ugly, and delay the payment! I 
will let Evans handle them! It’s no affair of mine! ” 

Before midnight, the burly Welshman was closeted 
with Raoul, and it was in the wee, sma’ hours, before 
they had canvassed every point of the situation. 

“I’ve already cabled my arrival!” said Ralph 
Evans, a sturdy man of fifty-five. “ I’m glad you’re 
off on the ‘ Lucrni?.’ You will reach Sheffield in time 
to cable me full instructions out to Caliente. Bremond 
and Mr. Larue are eager to hear every detail of the 
Shocking tragedy frcm vou! There is no danger of 
an Indian attack new, I suppose!” 

“ Not a whit! ” answered Raoul. “A battalion of 
troops, two hundred employees, and three thousand 
railway laborers are within five miles. Moreover, a 
regiment has been rushed in to surround the Jicarilla 
Apache Reservation, and so, apprehend the returning 
raiders, who are being hunted down like wolves! ” 

“Very good!” said Evans. “As for these insur 
ance people, I will tell them I will cable to Larue for 
orders! Leave all to me! While they wait, vou will 
have sailed, and then, Larue will direct you himself! ” 

Before another sunset, Raoul Hawtrey was on the 
f< Lucania,” which sailed at early daybreak ! He 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


185 

laughed at the discomfiture of the insurance investi- 
gators, and then, shook hands warmly in adieu to 
Evans. 

“So you have telegraphed out to Ross! Good! 
You will find ‘ Texas Dave ’ a man, every inch of him! 
Bremond seems to have left little for me to tell you! 
There has been nothing drawn from the two credit 
banks here since Sir Julian’s death. Saunders has all 
the cattle accounts in shape! Dave Ross has the 
papers and property of Sir Julian, and the mine ac- 
counts are in good order! Young Hazard, there, is an 
excellent bookkeeper! As for the mine, it is a non- 
pareil! ” 

“ So it seems! ” heartily cried Evans. “ And, before 
a year is out, I’ll have it making splendid returns! 
Bremond and Larue are already overseeing the finest 
plant ever put up in America! The ‘ Governor ’ has 
gone in for high stakes here! But, if the five hundred 
tons works up to Bremond’s own sample assays, no 
one needs any more money than it will produce — and, 
as you said, almost runs itself! ” 

Left alone, Raoul threw himself into his bed, with 
a delightful sense of release! He knew from his brief 
cablegram that Larue approved his caution now, and, 
when he awoke, the swift ‘ Lucania ’ was churning 
the sea foam high, as she dashed over the freshening 
waves. 

While the stout vessel buffeted the March gales, 
fighting her way back to England, Monsieur Mont 
Brun preserved a grave and unruffled demeanor. 

Seated in the smoking-room, busied with rolling 
his Syrian cigarettes, the dark-eyed Frenchman pon- 
dered long over the coming meeting with Laure 
Duvernay. 

There was a plan which, but for her, would afford 
him the period of polite eclipse which he desired. He 
w^ll knew that Laure and Doctor Richepin would 
strip the defunct Sir Aubrey of any portable property 
taken to France! 

“There’s one thing,” he growled; “the English 
laws are severe, but just. The whole estate will be 
safely tied up, waiting for me! If it were not for 
Laure Duvernay, I would close matters with Larue, 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


1 86 

go over to France, and hide myself at San Felicien 
for a while. Lischen Heffner is very good company! 
She could steal away on pretense of closing up her 
American affairs, and keep me company down there! 
She is quick-witted, devoted, and may be useful! But 
how will Laure take my succession? She may clamor 
for a reward, or — a marriage! ” 

Coldly forgetting the way that the door of Death 
had been opened for the honors now awaiting him, 
Raoul Hawtrey said: “ Never! ” 

It was not lassitude, it was not satiety, it was not 
a scorn of Laure’s shadowy past! 

“ Bah! Lcs aristocrates sont toutes coquettes, et pire,” 
he muttered. 

. It was fear, a groveling fear, lest the quick-witted 
adventuress should surprise his ghastly secrets! 

“ I must leave all to Fate! ” at last decided the tor- 
tured man. “ I may be able to frighten her away to 
Constantinople, but, with Larue. I dare take no 
chances! And, I must soon face these Cattle Com- 
pany stockholders!” 

But he, at last, realized the danger of the insurance 
investigation. 

“ Ah! ” he cried. “ If there is any suspicion as to 
Julian’s death, it will fall first on the stranger who in- 
sured his life for such an enormous sum! Old La- 
rue must protect me to collect that money! What was 
his object in this insurance?” 

This and many other perplexing queries were not 
answered until the “ Lucania ” dragged her storm* 
beaten sides up the muddy Mersey. 

The first man to meet Raoul at the landing quay 
was the Sheffield magnate! After ten minutes’ glanc- 
ing over the stranger’s effects, the customs officers 
released the newcomer! And then, began the most 
crucial ordeal of Raoul Hawtrey’s life! 

Every pointed query of the old Belgian millionaire 
was in the nature of a keen cross-examination. 

Closeted together, at the Northwestern Hotel in 
Liverpool, Raoul walked the floor, puffing his cigar- 
ette, while Larue made brief notes, or else gazed 
across the table at the man of millions with a chas- 
tened soberness. 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


187 


They had been several hours together, when Larue 
sprang up and handed Raoul a copy of the Morning 
Post. 

“ Read that while I go down and send some tele- 
grams!” .cried Larue, throwing down his private 
cipher book. 

Raoul Hawtrey was left alone to ponder over two 
things, for he was disturbed at heart. Ambroise La- 
rue had made no reference to the beautiful Judith, 
and he had but casually referred to Raoul’s prospects! 

“ You arc the next, in succession. I believe? ” was 
the onlv comment of the man who had eagerly 
plunged into every detail of the Rear Valley Mine, 
after scanning the latest newspaper account of Sir 
Julian’s death at the hands of the “ bloody Apaches! ” 

“ I wonder if he thinks me an illegitimate son! ” 
mused Raoul, the fierce pride of rank and lust of 
wealth burning in his veins. 

The fashionable journal’s article referred distant- 
ly to the succession of the late Sir Julian Hawtrey, of 
Combermere. 

“ It is believed, though the family solicitors are 
still silent, that the title and estates must devolve upon 
a younger brother. Sir Raoul, of whose early career 
the most romantic stories are told. Educated, for 
some reason, at the ficole Polytechnique, at Paris, 
the young engineer has been a wide traveler, and 
spent many years in Spain, Russia, and Asia Minor! 
His present whereabouts are unknown, though the 
valet of the deceased Sir Julian states that the broth- 
ers met on Lord Avonmore’s yacht, ‘ Dreadnaught,’ 
last year, in Constantinople. Combermere is one of 
the finest old places in Wessexshire, the rent-roll be- 
ing a tidy twenty thousand a year, and the personality 
of the two deceased holders of the title being very 
large, both dying unmarried.” 

When Larue returned, he said, briefly: 

“ Tell me all of the insurance matter in New 
York! ” 

When Raoul had finished, Larue said: 

“ It is strange that some fancy pursued me to in- 
sure my preliminary outlay on Sir Julian’s life! I 


1 88 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


have sent all directions needed to Evans, who will 
go on at once and take charge.” 

“ In all this,” said Raoul, when he had finished 
divulging the plans of Don Andres Armijo, and 
“ Texas Dave’s ” reasonable offer, “ you must advise 
me! I need some time for my family affairs!” 

Ambroise Larue studied long and deeply! 

“ I have it! ” he said. “ Go down to London and 
close up all your representative matters with that 
Cattle Company, and get out of it! Let them appoint 
‘ Texas Dave ’ as manager ad interim. Give no details 
of Sir Julian’s death beyond the journalistic account. 
They need not know that you were present at the 
time!” 

Raoul’s heart leaped up. 

“The old miser wants his insurance money! I 
have him! ” 

“ Then,” said Larue, looking him full in the 
face, “go quietly over to Paris! Keep out of the 
wav! Drop the Raoul de Mont Brun the moment 
you arrive in France! You are to avoid Soames, Sir 
Julian’s valet! Keep away from his lawyers, the 
family lawyers, and his chambers, as well as Comber- 
mere. Possess yourself of all the proofs of your 
legitimacy, correspond quietly with the old family so- 
licitors! Then they will ask you to London! Come 
over, openly, as Sir Raoul Hawtrey — and — come to 
us at Sheffield! Neither his lawyer nor the family 
solicitor need know of your American tour! Simply 
say nothing! For you are not only, the heir of Sir 
Aubrey, but, our relations in the Bear Valley Copper 
Mine are now vastly changed! To control ‘Texas 
Dave ’ and Don Andres Armijo, I must handle our 
joint interests, as a unit! ” 

“ Ah! ” mused Raoul, studying the inscrutable face 
before him. “ He will venture nothing till he is sure of 
my legitimacy! That dead cur has probably blasted 
my poor mother’s memory! ” 

And, a fierce thrill of pride in his bloody deed, now 
surged through Raoul’s veins! 

“ This, you see,” kindly said Ambroise Larue, with 
a marked change of tone, “ will enable me to complete 
a plan for merging the two mines together, and leave 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


18 i 

you and I in absolute control of the whole enterprise. 
I will be ready when you return! ” 

“ I- shall not be long absent,” calmly answered 
Raoul. “ All my own legitimation papers are in the 
Banque de France, and Sir Julian and myself last 
year, divided a small inheritance, left in trust by.oiir 
father, in my mother’s hands. It was lying ill the 
Credit Lyonnais* and he, both there and in the British 
Embassy, acknowledged formally our relation, and we 
exchanged three sets of clear receipts — one, filed in 
the Embassy, one, with Notary Achille Duprat, No. 5 
Rue Paradis, and another, left with the Credit Lyon- 
nais.” 

A cunning smile stole over Ambroise Larues face! 
“ Then, your legal position is invincible! You must 
come at once, on your arrival at London, to us, as 
Sir Raoul Hawtrey! Let the family solicitors send 
their best man up to Sheffield! You are young, for- 
eign-bred, ignorant of the English laws! You will be 
my guest, and my solicitors will watch over both suc- 
cessions for you! If you need bonds or sureties, 1 can 
furnish all! Blit, do not linger openly in Londofi! 
Come to 11s, and make ‘ The Priory ’ vour home! ” 

“ And, I shall not stop going down?” said Raoul, 
with some emotion. 

“ Don’t you see I wish you to clear off the Cattle 
Company affair first, as ‘ Monsieur de Mont Brun * ? 
Telegraph now your arrival to the Chairman. When 
vou come back here, we will telegraph for * Texas 
Dave ’ to come on with Don Andres Armijo’s power 
of attorney. All that property in America is outside 
of the English probate laws. And, I can erect the two 
properties into the ‘ Cienfuegos Copper Company. 
Limited!’ You own stock in both, and Sir Julian’s 
can be issued to you bv me* direct, in your own name, 
and, as we will own all the stock, we are exempt from 
any uglv inspection! ‘Texas Dav p ’ must not know 
of your feeing Sir Raoul Hawtrev. tiff I have closed all 
the contracts with him and Armijo! ’* 

“Where shall I hide?” cried the happy Sir Raoul, 
seeing the great ‘-Held and buckler raised lip over 
him, the defense H Ambroise Laf lie’s avarice. 

“At Comber:"'-’"-! I know the old place well!” 


90 


DROUGHT 


BAY. 


said Ambroise Larue. “ Madame De Vrees, Judith, 
and myself can go down with you! They can remain 
on a visit! I will keep ‘Texas Dave’ busied, until 
the papers are ready for his signature! You can give 
me your power of attorney as Raoul de Mont Brun to 
take and receipt for your stock! Then it will be issued 
in your name! ” 

“ You are a genius! ” cried Sir Raoul Hawtrey, 
who understood the hidden compact of a “ perpetual 
offensive and defensive alliance.” 

As the midnight train whirled by Sheffield, the old 
millionaire disappeared with one last injunction: 

“You come back to us as to your first home in 
England! ” 

Before the next afternoon, Sir Raoul Hawtrey had 
closed his business with the President and the Execu- 
tive Committee of the New Mexico Cattle and Sheep 
Company, and the telegraphed authority to “ Texas 
Dave ” had been duly forwarded. 

“Wait!” was the crafty Baronet’s parting injunc- 
tion. “ He will be here in two months! Let him aid 
you in selecting your permanent manager! He will 
bring all Don Andres Armijo’s counsels to guide 
you! ” 

And then, profusely thankful, “ Monsieur de Mont 
Brun ” stole away on the tidal train for Boulogne. 

He had not been “ marked down ” in London, and 
he was happy, radiant, triumphant, as he hid himself 
the next evening in a small German hotel near the 
Gare Saint Lazare. 

Only the old Notary Achille Duprat shared the 
happy home-coming of the undetected murderer. 

With a new lease of cunning, he concealed his risen 
fortunes from Duprat! “ I trust no one now! ” he 
murmured, conscious of the burden of the undetected 
murder. 

There was a packet of waiting letters from Lisch- 
en Heffner, which brought the glow of passion to his 
cheek! 

When he had dispatched his telegrams to the so- 
licitors of the Hawtrey family, he wrote a brief letter 
of notification, signing himself for the first time 
“ Raoul Hawtrey.” 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


x 9i 

The directions to meet him in one week, at “ The 
Priory ” were his only guarded communications. 

As he poured out the last of the second bottle of 
champagne for old Duprat, Sir Raoul listened with* a 
fine sneer, to the o*ld man’s description of Laure Du- 
vernay’s gay orgies in the Villa at Fontainebleau. 

“ There was an Austrian prince, a visitor of state, 
cn evidence there! ” 

“ Good! ” growled Sir Raoul. “ I will have her 
frightened away! So, les absens out ton jours tort! ” 

He guided the tipsy old notary’s hand, as he penned 
a telegram to Lischen Heffner to meet him at Belfort 
the iiext evening, at the Hotel Croix d’ltalie. 

“ I will surprise her! ” laughed Sir Raoul. “ Laure 
has given me my cue! Then, after four days of frolic, 
back here, get my papers from the Banque de France, 
and then, off for ‘ The Priory ’A ” 

A week later, on a clear March afternoon, Sir Raoul 
Hawtrev stepped from the train at Sheffield. Am- 
broise Larue met the distinguished visitor, whose 
valet was a European treasure. 

“ The solicitors are already here,” he said, “ Sir 
Raoul! ” 

And, at once, he led the handsome cavalier to where, 
in her carriage, Judith Larue waited to murmur: 
'* Welcome — Sir Raoul! ” 


192 


BROUGHT TO RAY. 


BOOK III. 

An Unwilling Judge. 


CHAPTER XL 

A MYSTERY OF THE MOUNTAINS THE TELLTALE 

BULLETS “TEXAS DAVE’s” LONE TRAIL 

Fully resolved in his own mind as to his futtire 
course, Sir Raoul Hawtrey silently pressed the hands 
of the imperial beauty at his side. He recognized at 
once, the public social acknowledgment of the sturdy 
old Belgian millionaire. 

“ I must rob you of the opportunity to tell Judith 
of your exciting adventures,” said Larue, “ until after 
there have been a few business words with the wait- 
ing solicitors. They are, both sets, now at ‘ The 
Priory.’ ” 

The watchful lover bowed and concentrated all his 
attention upon Larue, who seemed anxious to follow 
out Ralph Evans’s itinerary, at least as far as Coyote. 

“ Here we are, at last! ” briskly said the millionaire, 
as they drove within the gates of “ The Priory.” 

• “Judith!” sharply said the father. “Have the 
butler see to Sir Raoul’s luggage and his valet. He 
is to have the blue rooms, you know! ” 

Sir Raoul bowed over the lady’s hand, as he recog- 
nized the deep deference of the salutation of Madame, 
De Vrees, evidently now aware of the enhanced so- 
cial rank of her visitor. 

“ Autres temps, autres moeurs,” murmured Sir Raoul, 
as Larue led him into the drawing-room. 

“ Let me do all the talking,” earnestly said Larue. 
“ I will draw you out in the right way! ” 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


193 


Singularly happy at the favorable attitude of his 
redoubtable partner, Sir Raoul followed Larue into 
the library. 

There, was a gfioup of silent men in that formal, 
awkward waiting which presages all business of mo- 
ment pecuniarily. 

An old and weazened practitioner arose, followed 
a moment later by a robust and rosy-looking indi- 
vidual. 

“ Mr. Purvis, of Jarvis, Purvis, & Jarvis, the fam- 
ily solicitors,’" said Larue, indicating the elder man. 
“ Mr. Addiscombe, of Addiscombe & Son, the solicit- 
ors of the late Sir Julian Hawtrey.” The florid man 
of fifty bowed, with a careless nod, as Larue, with a 
sweep of his hand, finished. “ Their clerks — my sten- 
ographer! ” 

Sir Raoul had seated himself quietly at the side of 
his mentor. 

Without a word of comment, he handed to Larue a 
file of papers. There was an ominous silence as the 
Belgian cast his eyes rapidly over the formal docu- 
ments. 

The face of Solicitor Purvis was agitated but kindly, 
whereas Addiscombe’s burly air of semi-hostility was 
unmistakable. 

Larue had rapidly listed the documents, and then 
he broke the awkward silence. 

“ Sir Raoul Hawtrey,” he gravely said, “ I regret to 
say that the personal solicitors of the late Sir Julian 
are temporarily intervening with the Lancashire Life 
Insurance Company as to the policy taken out in my 
favor to cover possible losses on your late brother’s 
business advice. They have sent Sir Julian’s valet, 
Soames, on to New York, to return with the dead 
Baronet’s body, and also, to ascertain certain facts 
which seem to be as yet doubtful.” 

Sir Raoul bowed in an expectant silence. 

“ I shall now, in vour interest, exhibit to first the 
family solicitors, and then to vour brother’s, all vour 
papers of identity, which are here and in due order.” 

It was fifteen minutes before the men of the green 
bags had finished their intense scrutiny. 


194 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


" I am perfectly satisfied of the gentleman’s iden- 
tity,” began Purvis. 

“ And, / am not! ” boldly said Addiscombe. 

“ Why did you send Soames away?” pointedly de- 
manded Ambroise Larue. “ He met Sir Raoul Haw- 
trev in Constantinople, with his late brother.” 

“ I do not admit the death, except on a mere rumor, 
newspaper slips, and the single statement of this Mon- 
sieur de Mont Brun! ” defiantly answered Addis- 
combe. “ There is no proof that the deceased Bar- 
onet ever recognized this man as his brother! ” 

“ There is the Banque de France, the Credit Lyon- 
nais, the French notary’s certificates, as well as the 
countersignatures of the English Embassy in Paris! ” 
“ Why, then, the name of Mont Brun? ” doggedly 
said Addiscombe. 

“ Taken to simply shield the use of Raoul Hawtrey 
as his brother’s paid expert in America,” frankly said 
Larue. “ My solicitors here, my leading employees, 
and my family all knew of this! ” 

Addiscombe threw down the invincible papers with 
a snarl. He is a French citizen! ” 

“ Pardon me! ” said Sir Raoul, ip a deep voice which 
made all the listeners start. “ I was educated at the 
' Bcole Polytechnique/ but on a special permission 
given to my godfather, the Marquis de Verneuil, as a 
foreigner. And, the name of Mont Brun is mine to use! 
For our mother was Aglae Madeleine de Montbrun.” 

“ These facts are strictly correct,” croaked the old 
solicitor Purvis. “ And, I know that all friendly rela- 
tions were absolutely cut off for many years between 
Sir Everard Hawtrey and the late Colonel Reginald. 
The younger men were raised as estranged social 
enemies, the late Sir Aubrey merely tolerating the 
late Sir Julian, and often questioning me as to the 
whereabouts of the gentleman before us, supposed 
then to be in Spain, Russia, or else in the Orient! ” 
Ambroise Larue’s face was bitter with rage, as he 
said: “ And I, now, in the interest of my friend and 
guest, Sir Raoul Hawtrey, will not allow him to com- 
mit himself further.” 

“ Very well! ” bluffly said Addiscombe. “ We then 
contest so far the death and the intestacy of Sir 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


195 


Julian Hawtrey, and so far, rest, on a prima facie 
denial of this gentleman’s so-called rights! ” 

“ And as I will back them with a million pounds 
and the facts,” coldiy said Ambroise Larue, “ you will 
allow me then to offer you refreshments and — my 
carriage! ” 

There was a kindly gleam in Solicitor Purvis’s aged 
eyes as he hobbled up to the angered Sir Raoul. 

“ And I, may be allowed to wish you joy on coming 
into your rightful inheritance! We shall take no such 
position! Of course, there are vexatious delays and 
formalities, but as to your rights and identity, there 
can be no question! ” 

Sir Raoul bowed his thanks as the obdurate Addis- 
combe left the room, followed by his clerk. 

“ Do not mind Addiscombe,” piped Mr. Purvis, 
when Larue had returned. “ There are some little 
Stock Exchange influences which embittered the dead 
cousins against each other, and, in fact, I fear that 
Addiscombe is simply obstructing matters need- 
lessly.” 

“ I shall not let him see another paper or a docu- 
ment,” resentfully cried Larue. “ Now, I shall place 
my own barristers and solicitors here at Sir Raoul’s 
service, with orders to facilitate all your possible 
queries! You must talk all these matters over with 
them, and so, be my guest for a day or so! ” 

“Very good — very amiable!” croaked the gentle 
Purvis. “ And I can, in due f ime, enlighten Sir Raoul 
as to many facts of a very sad family history! ” 

The subordinates had all left the room, when Sir 
Raoul spoke quietly: “ Let the dead past burv its 
dead! I have my mother’s diary! I never spoke of 
these matters with my brother Julian. Aubrey was 
a stranger to me. There is no one who has a right to 
know save my wife, should I ever take one! I am the 
inheritor of the whole past! As for this Addiscombe, 
I shall have no personal dealings with him! ” 

“ Very good, very right! ” cried the astonished Pur- 
vis. “ And, when would you like to go down to Com- 
bermere? ” 

Larue spoke up sharply. “ Let the Steward of the 
Estate be telegraphed for. Sir Raoul, my daughter, 


196 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


Madame De .Vrees, and myself, will go down and 
spend a couple of days, while you go into matters 
with my solicitors here.” 

“Precisely!” said Sir Raoul. “I accept Mr. La- 
rue’s guidance, advice, friendship, and hospitality. Be- 
fore we leave, Mr. Purvis, if there is anything you 
may wish to know, command me! ” 

“ I think that we will easily understand each other, 
Sir Raoul,” answered the old man. “ I know that 
Sir Everard’s and Colonel Hawtrey’s private papers 
were absolutely obliterated, and that Sir Julian and 
Sir Aubrey knew nothing of the details of the unpleas- 
ant family history! ” 

“ No one ever shall open the painful subject! ” firm- 
ly said Sir Raoul. “ When I am inducted into the 
title and the family estates, when I am duly put in 
possession of my dead brother’s estate (should no 
will be found), I shall take measures to destroy all 
the proofs of the past sorrows and brutalities which 
exiled me from England and made me, a denizen of 
France, and, a citizen of the world! ” 

When Ambroise Larue had personally conducted 
the young aspirant to his splendid guest chambers, 
he pressed Sir Raoul’s hands in glee. “ You acted 
rightly! ” said he, joyfully. “ It is all a matter of the 
delayed insurance! You see that Ralph Evans is a 
sharp one! He has cabled me that these American 
fellows, Lomax and Endicott, are going out with 
Soames to investigate! What can they dig up out 
there? ” 

“ Nothing! This fellow Addiscombe wants to get 
a fat fee out of adjusting the insurance matter! Bre- 
mond’s evidence will soon fix him out! ” 

Larue never noticed Raoul’s green and ghastly face 
as he said: “ I will cable my instructions to ‘Texas 
Dave ’ and Evans to be present at the verification of 
the body, and to bring on here at least two eyewit- 
nesses of the burial! Of course, no one saw him 
die? ” 

Sir Raoul staggered to a window and inhaled the 
fresh air! 

“ The body will be the best evidence,” he muttered, 
desperately. “ I presume that it will be brought on! ” 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


197 


“ Pardon! I should not speak to you of this,” said 
Larue, “ but, you have given me a valuable thought! 
Only in charge of Dave Ross and Soames, shall the 
body be brought here, and, we will have two eyewit- 
nesses of the. burial! If this is to touch your succes- 
sion and identity, as well as my insurance claim, we 
will have our own witnesses in charge. I can not un- 
derstand the ugliness of these American fellows, save 
on the ground of the heavy loss after the payment of 
only one year’s premiums.” 

“ You are right! ” said Sir Raoul, breaking into a 
hollow laugh. “ They’ll find him dead, all right 
enough ! ” 

The startled man thanked God for the rest afforded 
by his dinner toilet. A horrible thought assailed him! 
“What if ” There were a dozen grisly sugges- 

tions in his mind, as he forced himself to swallow a 
half-glass of brandy! 

But, once in the great dining-hall, while old Walter 
Purvis prattled of the glories of Combermere with 
his stern host, Sir Raoul abandoned himself to the 
charms of Judith’s magnificent beauty. 

“She will make a superb Marquise de Verneuil! ” 
he mused, as he followed her delicate avoidance of 
all allusion to the tragedy of the Painted Mountains. 

Their light talk wandered over the world of fashion 
and music, of literature and art, of high life and 
le Sport! 

“ All this v/i'l concern you, more, now,” she mur- 
mured, with a velvety smile; and Sir Raoul gravely 
met her glance, with the whispered words: “ It con- 
cerns me only, because it concerns you! ” 

With a throbbing heart, Sir Raoul followed Mad- 
ame De Vrees into the great drawing-rooms, leaving 
the two elder men sitting over their wine, when the 
exquisite voice of Judith rang out over the pearl keys 
of her Erard. 

Bending there above her, the undetected murderer 
felt the soft invitation of her manner. His position 
in life was now impregnable! For had he not now 
Combermere and its rent-roll, his duplicated title, and 
the “ unearned increment ” of the Bear Valley Cop- 
per Mine to lay at her feet! The resolute attitude 


198 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


of Ambroise Larue left no ground for suspicion. 

“ Partners in millions, the husband of his only child 
never can be torn out of his protecting influence! ’’ so 
triumphantly decided the man who, with trembling 
Angers, had sent the shots crashing into a brother’s 
defenseless body! 

And in his own heart, he tried to feel that she had 
nerved his arm to that dreadful work! And yet, cat- 
like in his thirst for self-protection, Raoul Hawtrey 
keenly eyed the three inmates of “ The Priorv.” 
“ Their must be no haste, no eagerness for the fruits 
of victory! he mentally decided. 

And, he was well satisfied with himself, armed at all 
joints, when he bade the glowing vision “ Good- 
night ” at the foot of. the stair. 

‘‘We shall see Combermere, together /” demurely 
said Judith. Raoul knew from the grasp of her hand, 
from her studied avoidance of the Company’s affairs, 
that this high-spirited woman was her father’s only 
confidant. 

“ She knows that he must have me, to build up the 
‘ Cienfuegos Company’ out of these two properties; 
that I; alone, can make ‘ Texas Dave ’ and Armijo his 
‘ slaves of the lamp,’ and, she will be the tie that 
binds! ” 

With an allul-ing frankness, he followed Ambroise 
Larue into the smoking-room, for the wearied Purvis 
had sodght a needed repose. 

Seated there, his long Flemish pipe in his hand, 
Larue dperied his heart to the partner of his future 
mighty plans. 

“There’s nothing at all to fear!” heartily laughed 
Larue, while Raoul eyed him from behind the clouds 
of cigarette smoke, which hid his telltale face. “ Ad- 
discombe is onlv disgruntled that he loses a splendid 
client, now that Sir Aubrey’s succession passes over tr> 
you, directlv! Our real concern is with ‘ Texas Dave ’ 
and the wilv Mexican capitalist Armijo! Rut, with vou 
at mv side T can e? c i1v control them! Now, you 
will firtd old Purvis to be faithful and devoted, as wed 
as the tWo Jarvis partners. Thev will come up and 
spend a week with our representatives here, an--- 
Purvis has preliminaries! Certified colics 


Brought to bay. 


J 99 


of the documents are all that he needs, and, perhaps 
you will let me lock up the originals! ” 

With a smile, Sir Raoul handed over the packet, 
and he secretly laughed as Ambroise Larue, kneeling 
in the library, deposited them in a huge Chubb’s safe, 
built into the massive stone walls! 

“ If anyone but myself opens that door, it rings a 
dozen burglar alarms,” seriously remarked Larue. 

And, hardened nov by his absolute coriviciton of 
safety, Sir Raoul laughed in his heart to think how 
his dead enemy b: ' crouched, all unarmed, before him! 

It Was the t:l. rrph of a life, the lotlg-dfefeired 
vengeance of a u. aeration! The most trying ordeal 
Of his life i a J purred with no sihgle element of dan- 
ger! When 7V T parted with his host, irt the wee, 
sma’ hours, be knew every future plan of the acute- 
minded rr.i' ir' rire. 

‘‘ I will let im steer the whole matter,” mused the 
happy man, “but, when all is over, I will burn up every 
vestige of the past life of the Hawtteys! ” He smiled 
at hig own superior cunning; he thought of the invio- 
late steel chests of the Banque de Frartce, of the hood- 
winked Lischen and Dave Ross, of the duped old 
notary Duprat, and of the folly of the gay young 
Maenad, the soi-disant Comtesse Laure DuVeWay. 

“ Let her laugh with her Austrian Prince! If she 
crosses my path, I will know how to frighten her! ” 

The loqtiaciotis Purvis had unfolded to Ambroise 
Larue, all the scandals of Sir Aubrey Hawtrev’s life 
at the Villa irt Fontainebleau. “ Some picked-up wo- 
man companion, this scheming French qiiack Riebe- 
pirt, alid a crowd of Underlings — they robbed the poor, 
broken invalid.” 

Sir Raoul had begged Ambroise Larue to have the 
family name saved the expense of the miserable de- 
tails of vice. 

“ So with Julian’s past! ” bitterly said Sir Raoul. “I 
presume this fellow Soames will rob his dead master’s 
chambers, and I, a stranger to them both, want only 
my rights ! ” 

Raoul saw. with a secret iov. fW nM P- P bad 
babbled, in full, to the host rs ' ~ '*•? ' ’ *' ol 
the embittered Hawtreys! 


200 


DROUGHT TO BAY. 


“It is better so!” he laughed, as he laid himself 
down to rest. “ Shadows will not frighten me! ” 

A week later, Sir Raoul Hawtrey, on the advice of 
his father-in-law to be, left for a quiet month on the 
Continent. The two men were in a perfect accord! 

“ You can see that I have all in my hands! ” said 
Larue. “ Ralph Evans is even now at the mine. ‘Texas 
Dave ’ cables that he has Don Andres Armijo’s full 
power! They only wait for the formal visit of the 
prying Yankee doctor and lawyer! Bah! The Com- 
pany from its head office has already made overtures 
to me to drop the legal controversy, the very moment 
that the death is verified by their agents. And, you 
know the two Jarvises now. All moves on well — you 
need rest and repose, after all these excitements. Take 
this month of April, in the Rhineland! Forget Cop- 
per! Forget the law’s delay! Draw on me for any 
money that you may need! Let me have your tele- 
graphed address, and, do not give it to anyone else ! 
For, I will meet Dave Ross at Liverpool, and sign the 
option papers before he can be tampered with bv Ad- 
discombe. To that effect, I have cabled Ralph Evans 
to let Soames remain at the mine until he packs and 
brings on every article used by his dead master! 

‘ Texas Dave ’ will escort the body and bring on two 
witnesses! Once at New York, I will have him rushed 
over on an express steamer! In this way we have 
him alone, and at our mercy! Soames, the valet, will 
have no favors, and I’ll have a detective look up his 
movements in New York! Trust all to me!” 

Sir Raoul jumped eagerly at the suggestion of his 
princely old host! For, the strain of the intimate re- 
lation of guest and host was unceasing! And, the star- 
eyed Judith? 

It was from her royal, alluring presence that he 
wished to flee! He well knew that the golden bribe 
of the monopoly of the new Company was necessary 
to seal the father’s consent to the unspoken proposi- 
tion for an immediate marriage, which Judith Larue 
had read in her strange lover’s eyes. 

‘ I will obey you,” said Sir Raoul, “ for I can see 
that there is but one human being on earth who can 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


201 


handle ‘ Texas Dave ’ and Don Andres Armijo! It is 
you! ” 

“ Certainly! ” calmly answered Larue, conscious of 
his power. “ You have a bitter enemy in Addiscombe, 
the father and son have been cheated out of the fat 
pickings of Sir Julian’s succession and the handling 
of Combermere! To strike at you, they would aid 
these Yankee insurance quibblers, investigate Sir Ju- 
lian’s death, and intrigue with ‘ Texas Dave! ’ Then. 
Dave and the Mexican capitalist could balk .--vr 
every plan! No! You must disappear! I will handle 
Dave Ross and neither set of the solicitors shall ewr 
see him till I have closed all the contracts! I will 
keep Soames away from him! But, the very moment 
the papers are signed which bind Armijo and Ross 
to us, then you must come here and close the final 
contracts with me! After that, you and I are safe! 
•We will have the finest copper property in the world, 
and we need this powerful couple of Americans lo- 
cally to obtain us railway, political, and military fa- 
vors! ” 

“ There is only one condition which I must impose 
upon you!” smilingly said Sir Raoul Hawtrey. 

“ Name it, before Judith, on your return! ” mean- 
ingly said the millionaire. “ She alone knows my 
every plan, my every heart-throb, and she will have 
every pound sterling of my money. It is to meet this 
trust that I have made her ‘ a man of affairs,’ while 
she is one woman in a million! ” 

“One in the whole wide world!” said Sir Raoul, 
“and, I leave all for you to handle! So, I will only 
speak of her — or to her — when you call me back! ” 

“Sir Raoul! ” said the old man, with happy tears 
in his eyes, “ you are a man fit to rule others, for 
you can command yourself! ” 

That April night, under the stars, Sir Raoul parted 
from the woman who was now his protecting goddess. 
He was driven to the midnight train, and, following 
the father’s injunction, only said. “ I shall speak to 
you on my return, and then onlv before vour father, 
as his wish and the sacred obligation of hospitality 
demands! If I had met you elsewhere vou would 
have known now what you night have guessed at 


202 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


Combermere! No other woman shall ever walk 
those halls with me but you, and — Combermere is 
a woman’s kingdom — the realm of a queen! ” 

“ I trust you, all in all, Raoul! ” faltered the splen- 
did woman," in a sudden shyness, “ for, you have been 
loyal to my father! ” 

Loyal, cn tout! ” whispered the now eager lover, 
as he kissed her strong and shapely hands! 

Speeding along through London, muffled beyond 
all recognition, Sir Raoul Hawtrey wondered at Am- 
broise Larue’s absorption in the game of mere mil- 
lions! 

“ To him, only a higher mountain of gold, to me, 
thjs veiled intrigue, is Life itself! For, once that ‘ Tex- 
as Dave ’ is bonded, bounden, silenced, and rushed 
back, I am impregnable! And yet, can I wait for his 
return to America? Ross thinks me but a poor minor- 
ity holder, a man disgusted with the American wilds, 
and afraid to return! Best that we should not meet, 
and best, too, that I marry Judith Larue before 
‘ Texas Dave ’ finds out u 'ho ‘ Monsieur Mount Brozvn ’ 
was! ” 

The handsome traveler walked the deck of the Do- 
ver steamer, in wild glee! “ Larue will rush the 
proceedings! My little condition before I put the cap- 
stone on the pyramid of his vast fortune is a private 
marriage! Then, all our interests are one, for blood 
is thicker than water! ” 

He groaned at the sudden remembrance of a dark 
flood welling from the helpless head of the man who 
had fallen before his bullet, of a bldckened tide pour- 
ing from the back of the helpless corpse, at whose 
face he had not dared to gaze! 

“Thank God for that Indian raid! It has sealed 
the door of Julian U T ~ — ’<? tomb!” 

As the man for 17 ates were weaving now 

with golden threads neared Paris, but one disturbing 
element forced itself noon his mind. “ ‘ Texas Dave ’ 
might be a stubborn fool to handle, but,” he reflected, 
“ La Comtesse Laure Duvernay would be an aveng- 
ing fiend if she could foresee my marriage, my possi- 
ble marriage with Judith! ” 

His busy familiar devil whispered to him all the 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


203 

long and dreary railway journey to Paris. It was in 
vain, that he tried to delude himself, that when the 
stern old Belgian or the royal beauty who was to be 
his lifelong protedtress would be placated with any 
stories of “a young man’s follies!” 

Across his mental vision came back the picture of 
Judith Larue, as she walked with him through the 
picture galleries of Combermere! 

He saw her again, standing in the great hall, a fig- 
ure fit to receive an emperor, with the haughty pride 
of the old Flemish nobles! 

In his mind, he saw her seated at the head of the 
table, in the great oaken dining-hall, the mistress 
of the superb Elizabethan mansion! No form as regal, 
no face as fair, had ever looked down upon t v em 
as they wandered over the beauties of the past, “ all 
too full in bud, for puritanic stays! ” 

And. in the state chamber of “ My Lady,” Judith 
had answered him when he, forgetting all prudence, 
had whispered, “ All this, is yours! ” 

She had pressed one slender finger on her rosy lips 
and whispered, with a glance which thrilled him, 
‘ Wait!” 

“ Not long! ” he tenderly said. “ This is your 
realm! The Kingdom waits for its Queen of Roses, 
for its Queen of Hearts! ” 

With a flood of sudden emotion, Raoul Hawtrey 
told her in a tender confidence of the vanished beauty, 
“ La Mysterieuse,” the lovely woman for whose hand 
two brothers had struggled, whose brave, defiant 
heart one of them had broken. 

“ The King shall come to his own again! She shall 
rule here in memory, the guardian angel! ” sighed Ju- 
dith! “ How you love her memory! And yet, you 
see, time has its revenges!” 

Struck by his sudden pallor, the noble woman led 
him out to drink in the rich beauty of the grand old 
estate! 

And, it seemed to the desperate schemer almost 
like a fairy dream, this shadow-haunted mansion, 
filled with the spoil of many lands, the riches of the 
world! 

The calm lakes, the grand groves of whispering 


204 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


oaks, the prim grandeur of the clipped Dutch gar- 
dens, the trooping deer, all seemed to be parts o'f a 
dream of which Judith was the Cinderella! 

“ Nothing shall ever demean her! I will not break 
that princely girl’s heart,” mused the unhappy trav- 
eler. He did not dare to recall the old church where 
Sir Aubrey now slept in the only peace which he had 
ever known! 

For, there was a vacant niche waiting there for the 
uncrowned Sir Julian! 

And the steward, the old butler, the gamekeepers, 
the porters and stablemen had babbled of Captain 
Julian, a star in the days before he “ sold out ” of the 
army, quarreled with Sir Aubrey, and became a “ bus- 
iness promoter, a stock-jobbing cad! ” 

Once in Paris, a plan was swiftly formulated. 

Seeking out Achille Duprat, Sir Raoul telegraphed 
for Lischen Heffner to secretly meet him at Lyons! 
“ She can run down by Geneva, and be with me in 
hiding, at San Felicien! ” 

The unacknowledged Marquis de Verneuil laughed 
at the convenient fiction of a distant relative of Lisch- 
en’s, a “ wealthy, eccentric, old woman,” who WQuld 
have nothing to do with the mechanic husband whom 
she had left! 

“ Any lie will do! ” mused Sir Raoul. • “ Only, once 
that lying is begun, it never stops! Vive la bagatelle! 
Let us live and, act the lie! ” 

In conformity, he filled the old notary’s ears with 
tales about an Italian trip! The faded bon vivant drank 
in the lies and the accompanying champagne! He 
was all attention when his crafty protege bade him 
seek out the pleasure-mad Laure Duvernay, in her 
villa at Fontainebleau. 

“ Tell her,” ominously said Sir Raoul, “ that the 
solicitors of Sir Aubrey Hawtrey are sending Scot- 
land Yard men over to look up the robbery of his 
personality! Say that a large amount of monev is 
reported missing! Bid her let Doctor Richepin shift 
for himself, and that she would do better to clear out, 
say to Vienna for awhile. Tell her that I am still 
away — that you know nothing of my whereabouts — 
that Sir Julian is still in America!” 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


20 " 


“.And then? ” said old Duprat, his glazed eyes fixed 
on the approaching bottle. 

“ Telegraph me to the Hotel General Chanzy, at 
Lyons, that she has gone away, well frightened! Here 
is a thousand francs! Do the job well! ” 

When the old man departed on his mission, Sn 
Raoul whispered, “ Only see herself! Tell her to let 
you have a private address, and that, after all, she is 
only 'finally safe in Constantinople! ” 

Sir Raoul laughed the next night at Lyons, when 
he received old Duprat’s telegram. 

“ I saw her depart myself, at midnight, with Prince 
Furstenberg for Vienna and Ischl! Richepin is 
alarmed and has gone to Marseilles.” 

“ Brava! ” laughed Sir Raoul, little dreaming that 
his easily invented lie as to the missing money had 
startled the guilty Queen of Night! 

“ Those English brutes always keep the numbers 
of bank notes! But, Furstenberg will take care of me! 
And Raoul will protect me! He must!” 

She had used all her winning arts upon the stolid 
Duprat in vain, and he was the bearer of her brief 
note of treacherously worded tenderness! 

The B" 1 ' -:ct to be calmly awaited the arrival at 
Lyons qf the frankly unscrupulous Lischen! 

“She r c:y be cf use!” brooded her accomplice. 
“ And, none of them can trace out my nest! Fqr 
Laure knows nothing of San Felicien! I may send 
the jolly Lischen over to Ischl, to send this danger- 
os hawk fluttering away to the Orient. And now 
‘ w a mqr.th cf pleasure en vie de Bohcme, for frankly. 
.Ischen is ciueen in that pneertain realm — grateful 
for her relief from the horrors of Coyote station! ” 
While the victorious murderer wove himself deeper 
in his fancied web of safety, far away across the At- 
lantic, the breath of the coming May was sweet in the 
arched aisjes of the Painted Mountains. Some mag- 
ical touch of energetic enterprise seemed to have en- 
livened Rio Arriba County. 

The presence of Senor Don Andres Armijo at the 
Bear Valley Copoej: Mine did not alone account for 
the energetic whip hand ” t^ken by the burly Ralph 
Evans, now the autocrat of the Painted Mountains! 


206 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


But, it did explain the hastening of the track-laying 
f the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad, so that at 
’ Julian,” the new station on the completed road from 
Amargo, the snort of the iron horse waked the can- 
yons ! 

,The completed telegraph and four-company cavalry 
camp were a final protection against Indian raids. 
And now, in the high Sierras of the Atlantic and Pa- 
cific Divide, roved hundreds of hardy prospectors, 
searching for indications of gold, silver, copper, 
and all which could fill the pocket or inflame specula- 
tion. 

And, a picket post of a lieutenant and twenty men, 
scouting to the north and south, easily protected the 
great properties of what was now vaguely known 
as “ The English Company.” 

A rigid discipline had been established “ on the 
range ” by the veteran Welsh Superintendent, who 
now passed his evenings in close conferences with 
“ Texas Dave” and Senor Armijo. 

The final transfers of the sheep and cattle herds 
had been at last effected, and Dave Ross eagerly 
awaited his opportunity to start for Sheffield and Lon- 
don ! The memory of the dead Copper King was al- 
ready perpetuated by the name of the growing town 
of “ Julian,” but a few rifle shots from where the dead 
Baronet’s body had been found. 

“ Texas Dave ” and his Mexican fellow-capitalist 
were both agreed upon the policy of a perfect co- 
operation with Ambroise Larue, for the wily Armijo 
had received the fullest private details from London 
as to the Sheffield magnate, duly vouched for by 
Rothschild’s great bank. 

“ It seems so strange,” fretted Dave Ross, as the 
three men walked out to view Julian Hawtrey’s grave, 
in the pale moonlight, “ that these city chaps can’t see 
that the poor Colonel is dead enough! They’ll find 
him in here, all right enough!” 

Superintendent Evans had the “ transportation ” al- 
ready waiting at Tulian to bring up to Bear Valley 
the still agnostic Doctor Lomax and Counselor En- 
dicott, of the New York Bar. 

Four times a day, stages ran between the new sta- 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 207 

tion and the mine, whereat the force had been trebled 
already! 

“ They will be here by midnight,” said Ralph Evans, 
“ for, they come down from Amargo, on a special 
locomotive! ” 

“All right!” said Dave. “Squire Maverick will 
be in here to-morrow morning to certify the proceed- 
ings! I’m ready to start for London in six hours 
after these New York agents have verified the poor 
gentleman’s death! ” 

“ You have done wonders here already, Senor! ” 
said Armijo to Ralph Evans; “your sawmill, stone 
machinery, your tramway freight, your mill site ex- 
cavations, your smelting-furnace materials — you will 
build a city here soon! ” 

“ Texas Dave ” laughed. He had a valise full of 
photographs of the selected sites and the works in 
execution, tracings of plans, and stores of data to de- 
liver to Ambroise Larue, whose money and energy 
were now transforming the verv face of nature. 

“ Strange, that poor ‘ Mr. Mount Brown,’ whose 
good, sound science brought all this in upon us, 
should be frightened away by a few Indian shadows! 
He was a dead square scientist, and an awful nice 
fellow! I’d like to see him apron! But. this sudden 
death seems to have broken him all up! ” 

“Naturally! It ruined his whole business future! ” 
sadly said Evans, as he turned to the road. 

“ There they are, now! ” was “ Texas Dave’s ” crv. 
as a covered ambulance swept up the road. “ I heard 
the whistle an hour ago! ” 

With a grave formalitv. Ralnh Evans stepped for- 
ward to receive the two jaded travelers. 

“ I am the Superintendent in charge.” said Evans. 
“ and as such. I offer you our Companv’s hospitality.” 
After presenting “ Texas Dave ” and the unassuming 
Don Andres, Evans led the way to his private head- 
quarters. 

A blazing fire and a substantial supper awaited the 
New York strangers, who were abashed when ioined 
at table bv a severe-lookin°- man who had been a 
quiet visitor at the camp for a few days. 

“ Gentlemen, Mr. Dalvrymple, of the New York 


BRQUGffT TP ^AV. 


208 

B^r, who rpprpsents Ambroisp Larue and the Be^r 
Valley Company.” 

Before the tired pien squght their rest, Ralph 
Evans gravely rerpqrked: “ By the orders qf lyjr. La- 
rue, I shall at daybreak be ready to have the body 
of the late Sjf Julian Hawttey exjipmed fpr your in- 
spection. And when vopr Htjpfs of Identification are 
finished, Mr. Rjavid Ross starts fprthwfih for Lpn- 
<Jqp with thp pem^jns apd tyyq eyewjtpesses of the 
funeral! We have all arrangements piaflp; 3 spepiaj 
car will be attached to your loeorpotive, bearing the 
casket. The cafj^vpr has been vn'-oucfied sinpe tfie 
sipiple froptiep fpneral. We hac’ v-ased in doubled 
metal cases, roughly made here*. 

“AVe may demand some time for tfie investigatiqn 
of the facts! ” testily said Philip Endicqtt. 

“Ah! Judge Maverick, Mr. Ross’s father-in-law, 
will join us at daybrea^, with certified copies of the 
Cqroner’s inquest papers. We have a hppdred living 
witnesses who attended the funeral of tfyeir employer; 
^e have a half dozen admitted ’photographs of the 
body aqd full copies of the insurance papers taken 
over tp England by Mr. Henri Bremond, wjiq effected 
tfiis trqublesome insurance.” 

“ How long do you give US? ” growled Doctor Lo- 
max. 

“ The body will leave at noop, updpr charge of Mr. 
David Ross, and the two employees who go l|Qrqp 
to come out with our new forces. You cap stay here 
as long as you wish, gentlemen! ” said Ralph Evans. 
“ Mv duty to you ends, when I have seen you safely 
over the upopeped road to Amargo. These orders, 
which have been received from Mr. Larue, will be 
strictly carried out. We are in constant cafile com- 
munication and, I have already reported your arri- 
val ! ” 

‘‘You will find this a very serious matter!” ex- 
claimed both the visitors. 

“ To be settled by the law. in London, so I am in- 
structed! ” gravely answered Evans, as he called the 
head steward to show the discontented men their 
rooms. 

It was two hours later, before Counselor Dalyrvm- 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


209 


pie had finished his guarded professional colloquies 
with the slightly hostile visitors. 

But, honest “ Texas Dave ” had early sought his 
rest, in such wise, that while the darkness still lin- 
gered in the canyons, he had galloped down the road, 
on his old roan lasso horse, to welcome Squire Maver- 
ick with a budget of news from that exuberant young 
matron, Mrs. David Ross, of Caliente. 

The forest and valley were ringing with pick, saw, 
and ax, when Ralph Evans led '.he aroused visitors 
to the spot where a dozen bn Mexicans stood 
now ready to raise out the heavy case, which had 
been covered with fragments of copper ore, and a 
pent-house built over the grave! 

Squire Maverick, in all the dignity of his silk hat 
and crooked, golden-headed -ane, stood quietly ob- 
servant, with a frontier doctor, and to the group 
formed of Dalyrvmple, Dave Ross, Don Andres Ar- 
mijo, and the Superintendent, these two were added. 

Sadly down the hillside, to the assay house the 
mournful procession moved uncovered, the last trib- 
ute to the lost prestige of the dead Copper King. 

When all the laborers and artificers had retired, the 
Superintendent spoke: “Gentlemen, I now offer to 
you the body of the late Sir Julian Hawtrev, Bart., of 
Combermere, Wessexshire, for identification, only ! ” 

At a word from Counselor Daiyrymple, the corral 
master and two artificers entered! “ Here are the 
private marks placed on the metal cases by us! ” said 
the men, as the corral master stated: “ I handled the 
package in its temporary burial and I find it intact! 
Here is my private mark, placed here by the orders of 
Mr. Mont Brun, the Company’s engineer, who com- 
manded the defense of our camp.” 

In ten minutes, the ashen face of Sir Julian Haw- 
trey was revealed! 

There was a chorus of recognition! “My poor 
friend! ” sighed Don Andres Armijo. “ He is there, 
sure enough,” muttered “ Texas Dave ” with ashen 
lips. 

After the two doctors were placed in charge, the 
principals retired for a brief, unseemly wranele. “ We 
demand a complete uncovering of the body,” was the 


210 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


demand of the New York secret agents, “ and a veri- 
fication of the cause of death!” 

When Squire Maverick, with some unexpected dig- 
nity, had acted, after hearing all sides, the outer metal 
case was stripped so as to exhibit the stalwart propor- 
tions of the dead traveler and soldier! An unwilling 
group lingered at the end of the room, while the two 
surgeons gravely operated together. 

At last, Dr. Lomax approached the group, followed 
by the keen frontier surgeons. “ I am willing to ad- 
mit the identity of the body, and also the proximate 
cause of death — these two bullets, one entering the 
head and the other the back, now in the possession 
of this physician! There is a lance wound also! As 
to any further matters, I request that the body as 
soon as possible be resoldered up, in the original 
double cases, with the ground carbon packing. We 
will all place seals upon the cases. A list of these 
may be made in triplicate; we only ask for one! And 
then, the outer cases can be pujt on! Should there 
be poison or any suspicious circumstances, the matter 
can be taken up at London. We will all seal the outer 
cases.” 

“ Very good! ” said Ralph Evans, “ and I suggest 
that the two doctors, the two lawvers, and the three 
who go on to Sheffield now, affix their seals! ” 

Then Squire Maverick said: “Gentlemen, I will 
offer you, then, under the seal of the County Court, 
notarial seal, and under your cross-examination, all 
the evidence that you may desire here, with all the 
original papers! ” 

“ That is perfectly fair! ” replied the New York 
agents, as the nimble artificers prepared for their 
Wi "*k ! Ralph Evans silently watched every motion. 

" The bullets! What shall I do with them?” sud- 
denly asked the frontier surgeon. 

“ Let Mr. David Ross have them marked by our 
assayer, then let them be weighed in our finest scales. 
He can also put a private mark upon them, and the 
two men who accompany him can do the same! Trip- 
licate copies of this paper, describing weight and the 
marks can be made! ” 

The placated enemies bowed an acquiescence as 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


21 1 


the doctors rapidly sprang to their work, for the as- 
sayer’s furnaces were ready with hot irons. 

“ You seem to have made every preparation! ” said 
Doctor Lomax, in some surprise at the frontier sur- 
geon’s professional skill. For, the opened case was 
being rapidly packed with every possible useful chem- 
ical agent of preservation. 

“ We send a great many bodies, back East! ” grimly 
answered the frontier doctor. 

The Superintendent had led the other witnesses 
away to his office, to begin the semi-legal investiga- 
tion of the history of the death, when he remarked,, 
“ Mr. David Ross and hi$ two companions should 
be the first examined as he leaves at noon, for Shef- 
field and London direct! ” 

“ We shall remain some days,” soberly said the New 
Yorkers. 

“ In that case, I will use your locomotive and the 
car for this party,” said Ralph Evans. With a few 
brief orders, he set fifty willing pairs of hands at work 
to hasten “ Texas Dave’s ” departure. 

“ This fellow Soames, their under-spy, must not find 
Dave Ross here,” mused the acute Welshman! 

But, they proceeded with their general inquiry while 
awaiting “ Texas Dave,” who was now busied in the 
assay room. 

And there, with only young Professor Muller, the 
head assaver, to assist him, Dave Ross was marking 
the fatal bullets which the scientist had chemically 
cleansed. 

“The weight is the same to a grain,” curiously re- 
marked Muller. “ It does not often occur, but these 
bullets have been swaged out of hardened lead! They 
are not cast! ” 

Suddenly, the Texan uttered an exclamation of sur- 
prise. 

The little steel star punch refused to woik! He 
glided out like a panther to his own cabin. 

Seizing a wrench from his guncase, he twisted two 
bullets out of the Webley cartridges on his own pistol 
belt. 

“ The size ! Mv God ! ” he murmured. “ The In- 
dians have none of these! ” 


212 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


He returned to the sleepy young German, dreaming 
of his far-off verlobt Fraulein. 

“ Weigh these! ” the Texan simply said. 

“ Hein! The same to a grain! ” cried Muller. But' 
“Texas Dave” had already pocketed them! 

“ There is a little steel point in each of these bullfets, 
too!” said the assayer! 

But, Dave Ross felt the sea roaring in his ears now. 

“ The same weight, the steel points, the same swaged 
lead! Great God! I had poor Julian’s own pistol — 
and — the other — These balls are silent witnesses! 
.This man was murdered! But, by whom? He had my 
.45-caliber pistol. This is a .60-caliber ball! And 
only two such pistols ever were made! The Web- 
leys! And, Mont Brun! Great God! This is a lone 
trail!” 

He silently marked the flattened bullets and pock- 
eted them. 


CHAPTER XII. 

SIR RAOUL HAWTREY’S WEDDING “TEXAS DAVE’S” 

NEW DIGNITY— A REPRESENTATIVE OF 
FOREIGN CAPITAL 

Three weeks after the departure of Sir Raoul Haw- 
trev, Ambroise Larue sat alone in his library at “ The 
Priory.” 

Unrolled before him on a long table, were maps, 
plans, and sketches. 

On a small adjoining stand were piled sheaves of 
papers, labeled “Bear Valley Copper Co.,” “ Jarvis, 
Purvis. & Jarvis,” “Walter Addiscombe & Sen,” and 
“ Lancashire Insurance Co.” 

It was nine o’clock in the evening, and through 
the great halls was wafted the confused murmur of the 
voices of the two sexes, mingled in the murmuring 
babble of society. 

. The old Belgian paced the long room with many 
tiger-chasing trips, swaying his Flemish pipe in seri- 
ous gestures. 

The open doors, of his great safe yawned for the 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


213 

return of the precious exhibits of Mammon scattered 
around under the watchful master’s eye. 

“ It seems all right! ” muttered Larue, hastily run- 
ning over his file of cable dispatches. “ Ralph Evans 
now has the whole property under a complete control. 
Soames, traveling slowly, with his railroad freight, 
can not reach England for three weeks. It was a good 
idea to confine him to a slow steamer and ordinary 
freight trains. Now, for Judith! Her guests will 
soon depart! I must try to meet the incoming ‘Au- 
rania ’ at Queenstown. And. I think that I will have 
Purvis come up to Liverpool, to take charge of the 
remains of poor Julian! ” 

The old man drew aside the rich curtain, and stood 
watching far below the flaming throats of his score 
of furnaces, casting abroad lurid red flashes or golden 
glows of sparkling rain in the mild May evening. 

He turned, at last, when a hand was laid lightly 
on his arm! There was Judith, robed in imperial 
luxury, his only child, awaiting him! For, “loud on 
the stones and low on the sands,” the last wheels had 
rattled away! 

Drawing her fondly down to a seat beside him, the 
father closed and softly locked the door. 

“ I must ’eave you at midnight,” said the million- 
aire, “ to intercept the incoming ‘ Aurania ’ at Queens- 
town. ‘ Texas Dave,’ this strange union of simplic- 
ity and native genius, is on that ship! He holds the 
balance of power, so far, in his hands! He must not 
be reached bv those who would thwart my every 
plan! ” 

“ I understand, father ,” said the loving woman, lav- 
Vi er hand lightly on his brow. He led her to the 
window. 

“ There. Judith,” he said, “ is the proud work of 
my lifetime. It represents a vast investment and hu- 
man skill now applied to adverse conditions. Nature’s 
laws doom our flourishing Rritish mining industries 
to a final defeat, at the hands of foreign competition. 
Every year we have to dig lower for ores, coal, fluxes, 
and materials. Every year, pumping, sinking, and the 
dead expenses weigh heavier against us! Reduction 
of profits and the income of manufacturing processes 


214 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


depend on cheap raw materials and a high skilled 
labor. Germany’s technical instructions are handicap- 
ping us in skill. As to the United States, its indus- 
tries advance by leaps and bounds! They have al- 
ready wrested the Iron Crown from England! Thev 
have also, torn away our Steel Scepter! America is 
the undrained treasure-house of the world! All this 
here represents my brain, my will, my guiding power, 
my whole life. The wise Providence which has given 
to me ample wealth, has denied to me a son! You 
ha^e the soul of a man, but yet the heart of a woman! 
All this huge industrial fabric might melt away under 
adverse changes, but the two huge mines in the 
Painted Mountains are inexhaustible sources of 
wealth! There is a profit beyond calculation in their 
handling by one united interest! Only bv tying up 
‘ Texas Dave ’ and his backer. Don Andres Armijo, 
can I shift the future ownership to Raoul Hawtrev 
and myself! Only by bringing him close to my heart 
can I, with one signature, secure a natural unearned 
re-enforcement of wealth which will place you beyond 
all future vicissitudes. The raw material is safe in 
America, the processes, plant, and higher direction 
are here! You have been my companion, friend, my 
partner, my only confidant, my dearest! But, you 
are a beautiful woman! You have youth, loveliness, 
a long life before you! It is in -your hands to reach 
a rank in one of the old families, to be one of the 
richest woman in England, and, to be the Lady of Com- 
bermcre! ” 

Judith’s face was suffused with sudden blushes and 
her bosom rose and fell. 

“ You need at your side to control this huge ma- 
chinery of blood, brains, brawn, iron, and steel here, 
a man of both intellect and power! To watch over 
the vast treasurv in the Painted Mountains, an acute, 
scientific mind is demanded. The two kingdoms must 
be ruled in unison! Now one man. I can control: the 
other, the one who literallv brings an inexhaustible 
fortune to our alliance, can onlv be controlled bv vm! 
There is no going: back after T have met ‘ Texas 
Dave’ at Queenstown! It is a battle for millions! 
Should this once get into the hands of the stock- 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


215 


jobbers, I would be left powerless! But, with the 
final control of the two mines, with my patents, with 
that alliance, nothing can ever shake your fortunes! 
Sir Raoul has been delicate, loyal, gentlemanly, in his 
whole attitude! I can not deceive him, even in spirit! 
Shall I go or stay ? If I stay, Addiscombe will surely 
meet Dave Ross at Liverpool, tempt him, try to drag 
away the Armijo alliance. The second mine would 
be lost to us, and my control of the first, endan- 
gered! ” 

The old man dropped his head upon his wearied 
hands. There was both love and ambition, pride of 
intellect, loyal comradeship, and a woman’s fondly 
pulsing heart in Judith’s sweet, low voice, when she 
whispered Go! Father! He knows that I love him! 
It has been a song without words! ” 

The agitated father clasped the blushing beauty to 
his breast! “Don’t you see,” he whispered, “that 
your individual heirship, the ownership of my patents 
and these rights, once gained, makes you the Queen 
of the Painted Mountains? You have the sole decid- 
ing vote in all matters! Listen! I will slip away! 
No one must know! Bremond alone can pick me up 
by telegranh! Here is a card with my Queenstown 
and Liverpool addresses! ‘Texas Dave’ will think 
that I came on out of respect to the dead Sir Julian’s 
memory! Bremond and Purvis will meet me at Liv- 
erpool! I will telegraph from there to you, 1 All 
right! ’ If I do, you will know that the papers are 
already signed — that I will send ‘ Texas Dave ’ under 
Bremond’s escort to London — and that I have dis- 
patched to Sir Raoul to come here incognito! From 
here, my child,” he fondly said, “ you and he can go 
to Combermere! ” 

“ I understand! ” said the agitated woman. 

“Then a good-by kiss, my brave girl!” said the 
overjoyed father. Off to your beauty sleep , how! I 
need nothing! ” 

He pointed to the packed portmanteau which, with 
his mackintosh and umbrella, alwavs was rpprlv at 
hand for a sudden trip, the special objects of Madame 
De Vrees’s care. 

Left alone, Ambroise Larue sighed in deep relief. 


216 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


“ Now I am free of usurers, bankers, and money- 
sharks! This done, I will draw only on Nature’s 
treasury, at my own agency, where my notes can 
never be protested! And all — all — every stiver will 
be tied up in Judith’s hands! , It is the campaign of a 
whole life! ” 

On the bright May morning which dawned after 
Ambroise Larue’s departure, thousands of grimy op- 
eratives crawled out of their dingy shelters, to serve 
the hungry machines, and toil for bread and gin, for 
the few shillings to pay for rags, tithes, and taxes! 

But, on the beautiful Yorkshire heights, Judith La- 
rue, a princess of the sleeping heart, wandered about 
“ The Priory,” in a strange unrest, murmuring, “ Dear 
old father! How he loves me! ” 

And so, it was not to Sir Raoul Hawtrey, the dark- 
eyed cavalier, to whom her heart first went out, but to 
the grim old man now speeding along over the Irish 
Channel to Holyhead! 

Acute as was Ambroise Larue, he was not the only 
one now busied with the Copper Kingdom of the 
Painted Mountains and its unraveled mysteries. Mr. 
Walter Addiscombe, in his Law Chambers,- in Lon- 
don, was chafing over the slow homeward progress 
of Soames, the valet of the late Sir Julian Hawtrey. 

His favorite task of reading and rereading the let- 
ters of Doctor Lomax and Lawyer Endicott always 
ended in a sigh of disgust. 

I must get into the roots of the matter, before I 
can have old Larue on the hip! Then, if the insurance 
company would join me, I could make Larue and this 
French upstart pav well for mv silenced Thev should 
oav all that I have been bulked of bv Tulian’s death! 
Soames once at Liverpool, and the whole thing in 
mv hands, I can stir un an utrlv breeze! ” 

In vain. Addiscombe had tried to follow the move- 
ments of Sir Raoul Hawtrev. 

For, Tarvis, Purvis & Tarvis were now fmnklv hos- 
tile, and. backed bv Larue’s Sheffield solicitors, had 
established a good-humored modus vivendi with the 
Lancashire Life Insurpnce Company. 

An astute private inquiry office had failed to locate 
the object of Addiscombe’s well-nursed wrath. Even 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


217 


the old family solicitors of the Hawtrey Estates only 
vaguely knew that “ Sir Raoul was somewhere on 
the Continent.” 

There was a very dreamy little French village of 
Tournon, a few kilometers from the old Chateau de 
Verneuil, at San Felicien, where “ Monsieur et Mad- 
ame Le Roy ” were the envied of the elite of the simple 
commune. The handsome husband and the vivacious 
bourgeoise beauty wife seemed to be worthy of the 
“ Dunmow Flitch.” 

For, they frankly enjoyed the modest glories of the 
old village inn. A well-trussed fowl, a dainty salad, 
the bon vin dc Bourgogne, voila tout! 

Driving in the one available caleche, they wandered 
through the picturesque scenery of old Languedoc. 

Under the shadow of the Cevennes, the two adven- 
turers laughed over the wild life of the dreary plains 
of the Coyote cattle range. 

In this land of the fig and olive, of the vine, almond, 
and chestnut, Lischen Heffner gave herself up to a 
merry and vicious vagabondage with her complaisant 
lover! 

While masquerading again as “ Monsieur Le Roy,” 
Raoul Hawtrey, in their secure retreat, gayly laughed 
over Lischen’s description of the welcome which had 
awaited her when, on her home-coming, she was 
found to have full hands ! 

“ Tiens! Ma belle!'' cried Monsieur Le Roy. 
“ There is nothing in this world but gold! It outlasts 
all things!” 

“ Love?” queried Lischen, pledging him in the ever- 
welcome champagne. “ Bah! Love is a folie de ccenr, 
a charming amusement, Pour passer le temps! ” 

And so, in this easv. ill-gotten luxury, Lischen 
Heffner asked nothing but the enjoyment of the life 
to which she had been returned from the horrible 
slavery of the Covote station. 

On pretense of a shot at a nartrido-e. Raoul, master 
of the woman’s every pulse-throb, secretlv wandered 
awav, now and then, to inspect his old domain at San 
Felicien, incognito. 

He knew, from the guarded communications of old 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


2 1 8 

Duprat, that the woman who had dragged down Sir 
Aubrey to an early grave was reveling at Ischl. 

“ Nothing to fear from her!” laughed Raoul. 

And, when he received a brief warning telegram 
from Ambroise Larue, he frankly told Lischen that 
their runaway vacation was nearing its end! 

“ You must not go away empty-handed! ” he said, 
" and there will be yet other ‘ little visits to your aged 
relatives.’ ” 

Some secretive fear had led him to deceive Lischen 
as to his pied a terre at San Felicien ! 

“ I ask nothing but what you give me! ” cried the 
dcbonnairc beauty, throwing herself into his arms. 
“ You know you can count upon me to the death! ” 

And it was true, for when she slipped away to slyly 
rejoin her dependent circle at Miilhausen, she was the 
only human soul who had linked herself forever, in 
good and evil report, to the man who dominated her 
every instinct! 

So, the entirely disappointed Addiscombe was fang- 
less to injure the undetected murderer when Ambroise 
Larue, hurrying down from Cork to Passage, was 
slipped on board the great “ Aurania,” halting a few 
hours at Queenstown moorings. 

“ Texas Dave,” lounging, sad-eyed, on the steam- 
er’s rail, and watching the fleet of little peddling boats, 
was all unconscious of the raw air and the Irish driz- 
zle. 

His face was haggard, and his eyes lit up with some 
new, strange light. The passengers never annoyed 
the stern Texan, whose two companions in the second 
class were known to. be escorting the remains of a 
wealthy Englishman, who had died in the western 
wilds! 

Ross, moodily watching the joyous Celts debarking 
to touch again the “ ould sod,” sprang back with a 
start as Ambroise Larue laid his hand upon the 
frontiersman’s arm. 

Larue gravely drew “ David Ross, Esq.,” aside. 

“ I came over here to meet you,” said the million- 
aire; “ it will save me three days in shipping machin- 
ery and sending out orders. Have you the body and 
the men with you?” 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


219 


“ Texas Dave’s ” honest face had brightened at his 
partner’s hearty hand grasp, but a strange spasm 
passed over his face. 

‘‘ Yes! His body is here, all right enough; the men 
too! ” 

“ Come into my cabin! ’’ kindly said Larue. “ You 
are not looking well! ” 

“ I’ll be all right,’’ muttered Dave, “ when I get 
this thing off my mind! ’’ 

And the honest-souled cowboy silently followed La- 
rue into the great bridal chamber, placed at the mil- 
lionaire’s disposal for the trip over to Liverpool. 

“ He’s a dead square man, this one! ” mused “ Tex- 
as Dave.” “ Shall I tell him all? ” 

A rude sentiment of fair play saved every earthly 
prospect then of Sir Raoul Hawtrey, at that very mo- 
ment. laughing his last adicux and future promises to 
the frankly unscrupulous Lischen, under the vine trel- 
lises of Tournon. 

“No! I’ll give. the Frenchman a better chance 
than an Apache, a better show than a thieving coy- 
ote!” mused the generous-hearted man. For, the 
merciful Fates were still spinning only golden threads 
in the life-web of the man who had taken the brand 
of Cain to hew his way to Judith Larue’s side. 

And so, Ross pulled himself together as Ambroise 
Larue briskly said; “We’ll be off in an hour! Have 
breakfast here with me! Then, you can get out your 
papers and we can go right into business.” 

“I’m all ready!” said the Texan. “Don Andres 
Armijo came over to New Orleans with me, and the 
English Consul there has ratified all my special powers 
and papers’! He’s anxious to close the whole matter 
up,” dreamily said Ross, “ as he's had another olfcr! 
There’s a big excitement over there, and there are 
five thousand prospectors now in the Painted Moun- 
tains! ” 

“Very good!” calmly answered Larue, who had 
suddenly turned to a porthole of the splendid deck- 
cabin, and said, in a random way. “ The ship is swing- 
ing! We’ll be off in a moment! ” 

The entrance of the stewards, preparing to spread 
a sumptuous breakfast, took the two men to the outer 


220 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


deck. They stood side by side, as the great ship glid- 
ed along out of the beautiful bay. Ambroise Larue’s 
nerve had returned! Those simple words, “ He’s had 
another offer! ” showed him that one fatal mistake 
would make his carefully planned Austerlitz, a Leip- 
zig defeat' 

“ I’ll let him go easily into the noose,” mused the 
crafty Belgian. “ My God! If Sir Raoul should betray 
me and join them! The two must not meet! At any 
hazard, I must stop that,” he grimly concluded, “ until 
after I am the master of the whole field! For Judith’s 
sake! ” the old man softly added. 

And so, he was perfectly forearmed when the Texan 
in a muffled voice, suddenly said: “Where is Mr. 
Mont Brun? We can do nothing without him! I 
oughter get on to London and see the Cattle Com- 
pany. I counted on getting this business fixed up 
with you, at Sheffield in one day.” 

A gasp of relief almost choked the watchful Larue, 
as he said, calmly: “ He has gone abroad for a long 
rest. He returned broken down with fatigue and ex- 
citement. As he only owns a tenth of the Bear Valley 
Mine, he has given me both his general and special 
power of attorney, in duplicate. And I had them both 
verified by the French and American Consul-Generals 
in London, as well as the English law authorities. So 
you can take with you the certified duplicate, and I 
will sign for him!” 

“ That's splendid !” cried the overjoyed Texan. “ I 
can finish all up with you then, at once. One thing, 
both Don Andres and I have stipulated to give him 
out of our first ownership of the north and south ex- 
tensions an undivided tenth, so you only deal with us 
on the basis of ninety per cent, of the property! Mont 
Brun did all our secret work for us! I ought to' see 
him, bv and bv. I must see him,” gravely said “ Tex? 
Dave,” “ about another little matter!” 

That other little matter was lving stark and stiff in 
the “ Aurania’s ” hold, conspicuously labeled “ Ma- 
chinery ” to outwit the ravenous American express 
and railway companies. 

“ I’ll find him for you by and by,” cheerfullv said 
Larue. “Let us to breakfast now! I intended to 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


221 


send Mont Bruri back with you, but, he’s too broken 
in health! I will send Bremond to act under Ralph 
Evans’s orders! ” 

“ That’s a man in a million! ” heartily cried •“ Texas 
Dave,” as he vigorously made a plainsman’s break- 
fast. 

With every fiber thrilling with a now burning fever, 
Ambroise Larue lingered over his fried sole and muf- 
fins, his potted meats, English chops and tea, while 
“ Texas Dave ” arranged all his papers on a side table, 
having made a quick hegira to his cabin. 

“ Now, sir, I am with you! ” soberly said Larue. 

“ Will I be delayed with the dead man at Liver- 
pool? ” dubiously asked Ross. “ I’ve got him and the 
two men that Evans sent! ” 

“ I will relieve you of all,” remarked Larue. “ The 
two men can go to Sheffield, inspect the packing of 
the machinery, and go back with Bremond. I will 
have the lawyers of the Hawtrev family take Sir Ju- 
lian’s body off vour hands at Liverpool! And, you 
will have nothing whatever to do with them! ” 

“ That’s a Godsend! ” sighed Dave Ross. “ I want 
to get shut of the whole thing at once. You see,” he 
said, after a momentary pause, “ I will have to put in 
a couple of weeks in London about that Cattle Com- 
pany. And I want to get home, for,” he bashfully 
said. “ there’s a little fellow, David Ross, Junior, that 
I want to get back to.” 

“ I will aid you in every way,” quietly said Larue. 
“ Did Armijo give you any lawyer’s name in Lon- 
don?” 

“Oh! No,” simply answered *Ross. “If I didn’t 
make the deal with you, just as we’ve fairly agreed, 
I was just to go down to Rothschild’s Bank and de- 
liver a sealed letter. Then, they would have to handle 
the whole thing. But, if we sign on these papers 
I have, which set out the entire business, I was simply 
to cable him to Albuquerque ‘ Papers all signed,’ and 
then, leave the mines to you here.” 

“ That is very wise,” answered Larue, the word 
“ Rothschild ” beating on his brain like a hammer. 
“ I can assist you by sending Bremond down to Lon- 
don with you and one of my Sheffield lawyers. They 


222 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


will see you through all your whole business with the 
Cattle and Sheep Company.” 

“ Texas Dave ” grasped both his partner’s hands 
in a sudden enthusiasm. “ I ought to be able to 
start for home in sav, two weeks,” he cried. 

“ Why, certainly,” said Larue. “ I shall at once 
begin to duplicate the exact machinery for the ‘ Cien- 
fii'egos Copppr Company, Limited,’ and all the papers 
and stock will be ready. The Cattle people will not 
delay you long. Where is Soames? ” 

“ Texas Dave’s ” brow darkened. “ He is a crafty, 
low-minded flunky, that fellow! He will get over 
here in about three weeks, if he doesn’t fool around 
in New York with that Yankee iawyer and doctor. 
Look out for that fellow! Evans thinks that he will 
try to make some trouble for you.” 

“ Nonsense,” lightly said Larue. “ He only wishes 
to haVe his pickings out of his dead master’s estate. 
The insurance company only wait for a few formalities 
to pay Over the money to mp.” 

While the great ship ploughed along, the watchful 
Larue forgot the lapse of hours. He learned even the 
minutest detail of the entire past occurrences. 

With a visible effort, “ Texas Dave ” at last unbos- 
Otned himself. The frank cowboy was delighted at 
Ambroise Larue’s time-saving device of coming to 
meet him- on the way. 

“ YoU see,” gravely said Larue, “ we can go to the 
Northwestern Hotel at Liverpool. There is an Amer- 
iacn Consul there. You have your passport and pa- 
pers. You have Armijo’s full powers. I will tele- 
graph down to Sheffield for Bremond and my lawyer. 
Our business papers can all be signed there. I will 
take charge of the men and your sacred trust, Sir Ju- 
lian’s body. You can cable from Liverpool over to 
Doil Andres, and then go down direct to London, 
with my two men to help you with the Cattle Com- 
pany, as to law details and all that ! ” 

“ That’s a square deal!” emphatically cried Ross. 
“ You have taken a load off my mind, and I will now 
tell you that Sir Julian did his best to rob us and to 
rob you, his pardners! He was slyly surveving all 
the north and south extensions. He intended to enter 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


223 


this and fob the whole lot of us! But, I had cut ill 
on him! This was all safe long before he came back. 
And, Don Andres ahd I are willing to see you just 
right in the new , property. For we kndw Well Sir 
Julian wanted to throw the extra property oh the Lon- 
don Stock Exchange! That was his little ganye! ” 

“Then, lie was a scoundrel!” sadly said Lartie, 
realizing how unprotected he had been against Julian 
Hawtrey’s duplicity. 

“ He forced Morit Brun, the poor fellow whom he 
could discharge at a rhdment’s notice, to make the 
secret surveys,” said the Texan, as he rose to say 
“ Good-night.” 

“ There is but one thing,” said Larue, as lie took 
the Texan’s hahd. “ When you go to Lohdori, you 
are rtever to mention the Cbppef Company to a soul. 
Not one shaye shall ever feach the public! Avoid 
every stranger! Trust Bfemoiid and riiy lawyer. See 
ho one, Save in their presence! Then, and only theri, 
you are safe ! ” 

“ I promise it! ” stoutly said “ Texas Dave.” “ See 
here, Mr. Larue! Ybu’re a millionaire— I was born 
only a poof ranchboy! You are making me rich and 
I’ll never go back on you, SO help the God! Armijo’s 
a Mexican, blit, he’s a square man, too, and I’ll forfeit 
my head, if he breaks his word!” 

The riide frontiersman went to his cabin, and Slept 
the sleep of a child, only murmuring, “ When I’ve 
done rrty business, I’ll take up the lone trail! ” 

For, there wds a package in his breast pocket, in 
which reposed the two telltale bullets which seemed, 
at times, to burn ihto the honest Texan’s breast. 

But, A'mbfoise Larue, the millionaire, passed a 
sleepless flight! He was moody, sullen, and haggard 
when he stepped ashofe at the landing-place. 

Dave Ross, bhsied with the customs officers, never 
saw Purvis glide away, after whispering to the anx- 
ious Lartie. “All the rest are feady in the hotel!” 

“Wait for me there!” answered Larue, whose 
fingers trembled with eagerness. 

Afoithd the dinner-table in Athbroise Larue’s pri- 
vate rooih that evening, gathered Brefnond, Rllfvis, 
and Larue’s Sheffield solicitor, while the Texan con- 


224 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


versed in a low tone with Larue at the other end of 
the table. 

Since ten o’clock of the gray, misty morning, a 
monarch’s ransom had changed hands! 

Far away at Lyons, Sir Raoul Hawtrey, rolling his 
Syrian cigarette, watched his valet packing his lug- 
gage. “ Did you send everything on to Sheffield'’” 
asked Sir Raoul. 

“ Yes, Monsieur,” replied the kneeling man. 

“Then, we take the next train!” said his master. 
For the telegraph had brought the welcome message 
to “ Come at once.” 

“ Now, for my little condition! ” laughed Sir Raoul. 
“ For, I have nothing to fear now ! ” 

The “ little condition ” had suddenly clapped her 
hands with a gasp of delight, when Madame De Vrees 
handed her the fateful message, “ All right.” 

“ I see nothing to keep you now,” Larue remarked 
to “ Texas Dave,” when Bremond and the lawyer, ap- 
proaching, said, “We can take the three-forty mid- 
night express and be imLondon at ten o’clock! ” 

“ All right! ” cheerfully said Dave Ross. “ I’ll go 
and sleep till three o’clock. I have cabled over to 
Don Andres, ' Papers all signed,’ ” he said to Larue. 
“ I had two copies of the dispatch certified, and here’s 
one for you ! ” 

Drawing Larue into a corner, he said: “ Don’t for- 
get about Mont Brun.” 

“ Leave it all to Bremond,” said Larue. “ He will 
attend to your whole London trip. If you wish any 
money, he has a chequebook! Simply sign your 
cheques on my bank, and give him a receipt. He 
will let you know when I hear from Mont Brun. Re- 
member! Before you go back, you are to come to 
me at Sheffield for a visit, at my home. I need you 
two or three days, and, Bremond will go, on to Ameri- 
ca with you! ” 

“ I’m all done here, then,” said Ross. “ I will not 
write! You telegraph to Bremond, and he will an- 
swer you ! ” 

Then Bremond, joyously raising his glass, drank to 
* The Cienfuegos Copper Company, Limited.” 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 225 

For, there was no human power now, which could 
defeat Ambroise Larue! 

“ Get me a carriage, pay all the bills, and take me 
to the station! ” sgid Larue. “ Let Purvis drive down 
with us! ” 

In an hour, Ambroise Larue was being whirled 
homeward, leaving the old solicitor, Purvis, to his 
dreary task of escorting the remains of Sir Julian 
Hawtrey to a Liverpool receiving vault. 

“Let it stay there!” counseled Larue, “until the 
insurance company waives an investigation. After 
that, give him the last sad honors at Combermere.” 

When the train halted at Sheffield, the old man 
started back in surprise as his own carriage drove 
up to the station. His butler led him to the opened 
door, where, as he entered, two loving arms clasped 
him in a convulsive embrace. 

“ Father , is it true?” cried Judith, as they were left 
alone. The shaken old man drew her to his breast. 

“ I have one set of the papers with me, a duplicate 
set of the transfers is safe in my Liverpool bank 
vaults. You are the Copper Queen, my girl — and 
he is on his way! I received his telegram just before 
leaving Liverpool! ” 

“ And, I have already received one here! ” faltered 
Judith, bursting into happy tears. 

“ To-morrow night, he will be with us,” said the ex- 
hausted man. “ Give me one day more, then you will 
be beyond the reach of any stroke of fate! ” 

As the lights were darkened that night in. “ The 
Priory,” there was a man restlessly pacing the deck 
of the Calais steamer. 

A D’Orsay in his simple elegance, a conqueror 
in his mien, a proud, passionate-hearted man, who 
had won the prize of his life! 

“ It seems like a dream — a golden dream of the 
Arabian Nights!” murmured Sir Raoul Hawtrey, a 
victorious Prince Charming. 

He saw before him now, a life crowned with hon- 
ors, gilded with wealth, and lit with love! 

And yet, the grim Fates spinning, ever spinning, 
began to weave dark and bloody strands into his 


226 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


web of life — began to break every golden thread — and 
they grinned over their horrid work! 

Sir Picul- Hawtrey’s arrival at Sheffield proved to 
that aristocratic traveler the social caution of his 
millionaire partner. The butler of “ The Priory ’’ was 
in waiting with a plain private carriage, and an hotel 
van was ill readiness for Sir Raoul’s valet and the 
luggage. 

The rubicund butler whispered a few words to the 
anxious lover which brought a smile to his pale face. 

A half an hour later, Sir Raoul entered the great 
hall of Larue’s princely home. Ambroise Larue met 
him with extended hands. 

“ You will have the same rooms,” he said, gravely. 

“ And, I will wait for you in the drawing-room. Sup- 
per will be served as soon as you descend.” 

With a supreme effort at self-control, the victor in 
the desperate dash for fortune entered the great 
drawing-room, after visiting his apartments. 

But one sign of welcome awaited him there, a mag- 
nificent vase of red roses on the dressing-table. 

“Strange, strange!” said the Oriental traveler. 
“ This is her mute welcome, beautiful, yet, on the 
Bosporus, the dual sign of Love and Death! I will 
accept them only as a signal of Love! ” 

So, when he bowed over the trembling hand of 
Judith Larue, his veiled answer was the choicest blos- 
som pinned in the lapel of his coat. But, the" happy 
Judith saw the silent signal, and dropped her dream- 
ing eyes. 

Madame De Vrees, fluttered in a secret delight, 
welcomed the traveler, and Solicitor Purvis emerged 
from a dusky corner, where he had been hidden with 
Arthur Lvmington, the great Sheffield barrister. 

“Condition for condition!” mused Sir Raoul, as 
they passed a gay social hour at the table. Sir Raoul 
frankly abandoned himself to babble of his travels, 
and astonished himself as an easy raconteur. 

Without, the soft Mav moon was beaming down 
on the dingv huddle of never-silent factories. 

“ These gentlemen are my guests, Sir Raoul,” re- 
marked Ambroise Larue, “ and they came here only 
to meet you ! ” 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


227 


The schemer saw the significance of the intimation, 
and, when Judith and Madame De Vrees sought the 
drawing-room, Larue left the two lawyers to their 
extra glass of Madeira and led the adventurer into 
the library. 

In five minutes, the catlike Frenchman knew every 
fact of the wonderful harvest. 

“ I never met such a man! ” said Larue. “ ‘ Texas 
' Dave ’ has frankly trusted to my honor! It was a 
desperate crisis! Had he reached London, had the 
Rothschilds heard the babble of this Addiscombe, if 
Soames had not been delayed, Ross might have drift- 
ed into other hands! He is one of Nature’s noble- 
men! I was obliged to conceal your identity and re- 
lationship! Now, I feel like hurrying him homeward 
before Soames can make him aware that ‘ Mr. Mount 
Brown ’ was Julian’s brother, and that you are really 
Sir Raoul Hawtrey! ” 

“ I leave all in your hands! I see the dangers! For 
the scandals which the life insurance company might 
have created would have defeated this wonderful op- 
eration. And now, I am at your service! What do 
you wish me to do? ” 

Ambroise Larue’s voice- was broken as he vainly 
tried to appear calm. “ I have legally acquired one- 
half of ninety per cent, of the north and south exten- 
sion! To treat this vast property as an entirety, I 
must have your ten per cent, of the new ground. That 
gives me fifty-five per cent, to their forty-five per 
cent. I am at your mercy! What is your price?” 

Sir Raoul Hawtrev’s face was immutable. “ I will 
not sell it to you, at any price! But, I will exchange 
it for one-half the profits of your patent as applied 
to the north and south extension, upon one condi- 
dition! ” 

“ And that is? ” murmured Larue. 

“Your daughter’s hand, if she consents! It is no 
bargain and sale! I give you my whole life, and she 
is your whole life! We are then one, a trinity of brain 
and power! ” 

Ambroise Larue pressed the voung man’s hands. 
“ It shall be so, if she wishes it! ’’ 

“ I have left everything in your hands,’’ frankly said 


228 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


Sir Raoul, smiling. “ I understand the presence of 
Purvis and Solicitor Lymington. I will execute all 
the papers here to-morrow to protect you in your 
enormous venture of the ‘ Cienfuegos Copper Com- 
pany, Limited.’ Marriage is a valuable considera- 
tion. Let all be done to-morrow! I will instruct Pur- 
vis to make any settlements you and he may agree 
upon! My complete sale to you of the final control- 
ling-interest in the mine tOvbe based upon the contract 
as to the patent and the future marriage. There is 
time needed for the legal formalities.” 

“ I can get an archbishop’s special license, and 
bring Judith to Combermere in three days,” said the 
happy father. 

“ I exact but one thing,” said the agitated lover. 
“ That Judith Larue shall know from you that I have 
mingled no business with my wooing! I shall have 
Purvis draw my will at once, leaving her, my entire 
personality. Poor Julian’s death has been a sad les- 
son of life’s uncertainty! Now, I am yours! Will 
you speak to Judith, and then, may I go in and see 
her?” 

“ You have acted as the man of honor! ” said Larue. 
“Wait!” 

In five minutes, the old millionaire returned, and 
led Raoul to where, in the dainty music room, Judith 
stood, with softly shining eyes, awaiting her lover. 

It was with a strange feeling of awe, a mute appeal 
of his better nature, that the lover drew her head 
down upon his breast. “ I will never see her suffer! ” 
he swore in his guilty heart. 

One day of uninterrupted toil in the great librarv 
enabled the men of parchment and waxen seals to 
place the fate of the vast treasures of the Painted 
Mountains beyond peradventure. 

The departure of Sir Raoul Hawtrev for Comber- 
mere was unnoticed bv anv of the Sheffield gossips. 
Sir Raoul was accompanied bv Ambroise Larue, who 
sagaciouslv gave his intended son-in-law his advice. 

I will see that this does not reach the newsoaoers. 
Remain ouietlv a few davs Combermere, and then 
go abroad for a few months! I will give you a roval 
home-coming! Of course, you can not take legal pos- 


BROUGHT TO iiA * . 229 

session of Combermere till Julian’s intestacy is ad- 
mitted. I will watch over both your interests! And 
you shall have carte blanche! ” 

“ We will go oyer to Pau! ” smilingly said the happy 
Raoul. “ Judith loves the Basses-Pyrenees, and, I 
know them as a playground.” 

“ You see, Raoul,” frankly said Larue, “ I do not 
wish you to meet ‘ Texas Dave.’ ” 

The fool of Fortune leaned back in an exquisite 
contentment to see every obstacle swept from his 
pathway in life. 

Purvis had given such orders that in a few hours 
Ambroise Larue returned to Sheffield. “ I have al- 
ready begun duplicating the machinery, my boy,” 
cried the excited millionaire. “ By next spring, both 
plants will be in full operation. I have just received 
a telegram of the granting of the special license. 
Leave all your business to Purvis and Lymington. 
Are we not one, in heart and, soul, now?” 

Left alone at Combermere, Sir Raoul Hawtrev ar- 
ranged his own plans. “ I will dismiss my too curious 
valet! Judith shall take her own English maids. I 
will let Larue give me a couple of his men. No one 
knows my past! First, by Southampton, to Bor- 
deaux, then to Pau, and, after that, I will fortify 
myself in the Chateau de Verneuil. Safe! safe at last! 
I can defy even Fate! Nothing can touch me now! ” 
- Three days later, Sir Raoul Hawtrey led the stately 
bride from the altar of the dim old church at Com- 
bermere. 

There was only Madame De Vrees and the delight- 
ed Purvis to congratulate the Lord and Lady of Com- 
bermere, besides Ambroise Larue, in whose fatherly 
eyes shone out the victory of a lifetime. 

Walking down the great hall, in an ecstacy, the 
handsome bridegroom placed his bride in her place 
of pride. 

“ All this is your kingdom, my own darling! ” he 
whispered. “ As for Life’s roses, we will cull them 
later! ” 

Though no one knew that the handsome pair who 
entered a private carriage for Southampton were Lord 
and Lady of the Manor, yet a sharp-eved reporter. 


230 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


notebook in hand, had furtively followed Ambroise 
Larue and his party from Sheffield. 

The immediate return of the millionaire and Mad- 
ame De Vrees baffled Combermere gossip and the 
astute Purvis remained to warn the steward and the 
rector of- the parish of their bounden secrecy. 

Flinging himself in ardor into the vast projects of 
the “ Cienfuegos Copper Company, Limited,” Am- 
broise Larue laughed over the telegrams received 
daily from the happy wanderers. 

But one ominous shadow now darkened his happi- 
ness! A week after the departure of Sir Raoul and 
Lady Hawtrey, the “Morning Post” contained a long 
and romantic history of Sir Raoul Hawtrey and his 
early career. The “ maimed rites ” of the young 
millionaire’s wedding were referred to, and the trag- 
ical death of Sir Julian Hawtrey, cast abroad to the" 
curious. 

The same evening, a telegram from his secret agent 
in Liverpool alarmed Larue. 

“ This is Addiscombe’s dirty work! It means mis- 
chief! ” cried the angered Larue. “ He has been se- 
cretly watching us! And Soames, sneaking on by an 
express steamer, is already in London ! The ‘ Morn- 
ing Post’s ’ gossip will set ten thousand tongues wag- 
ging! ” 

With quick resolution, Larue dispatched a private 
agent to London, to give Bremond full instructions 
to have detectives dog “ Texas Dave,” and prevent 
Addiscombe and Soames poisoning his mind! 

“ What do they mean? ” growled the Copper King. 
“ Thank God! The mine is safe! Judith is mistress 
of Combermere, and Lady Hawtrey! ” 

A thrill of pride animated the old man’s rugged 
heart! “She is happy, in Love’s dearest dreams! 
And, Sir Raoul has been princely in his faith in me — 
roval in his prevision of willing her all his person- 
ality! ” 

With the hand of a Maecenas, Sir Raoul had made 
settlements fit for a nrincess upon the stately bride. 

“ If there is trouble, I will go down to London,” 
mused Larue. “ As for mv runawavs, thev are hiding 
in Languedoc ! This shall not alarm them ! ” 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


231 


Fond, faithful old man! He little knew of Addis- 
combe’s undying enmity! He little dreamed that the 
special license had attracted the detective’s eyes! A 
telegram to Addi^combe from the Sheffield private 
inquiry office set two sleuth-hounds on Ambroise 
Larue’s trail. 

And so, when the married lovers drove away, they 
were followed by the eyes of the scoundrel ferrets 
of society. 

All ignorant of the mystery of the Painted Moun- 
tains, Ambroise Larue hastened his lawyer’s assist- 
ant back from London to report as to “ Texas 
Dave’s ” actual state of mind. Bremond he did not 
dare to recall, even for a moment. 

While the little cloud, no greater than a man’s 
hand, was gathering behind Sir Raoul Hawtrev, that 
gallant bridegroom had given the enraptured Judith 
a charming surprise. 

“ Do you remember, darling,” he said, as they sat 
watching the merry revelers at Pau, “ that I told you 
of my graceful and beloved mother? I have robbed 
your beloved father of his treasure. I have stolen 
you, but, only for a little while. I will lead you to mv 
dead mother’s quaint old chateau! You shall walk 
under the very rose trellises which showered their 
fragrant leaves down on her graceful head, in dreamv 
Languedoc, still haunted by its ancient romance. In 
England you may be Lady Hawtrev. but at San Fe- 
licien you are the Marchioness de Verneuil!” 

With glistening eyes, filled with a softened tender- 
ness, Judith listened to her husband’s strange storv. 
“ Let us go there, to this love-hallowed retreat. Mon- 
sieur le Marquis! ” cried the happy wife. “ Why did 
you not tell me this before?” 

“ Because, darling,” softly said Raoul, “ her secret 
was for you alone! The beautiful old chateau waits 
for you. the unravished bride of silence, and ther<* 
vou shall know how she loved me vou shall learn all 
her sad storv. von shall kneel with me at her grav* 3 
and say. ‘Mother! Time has its revenges!’ For, all 
things come around to him who waits!” 

And so. hand in hand, the lovers were wandering 
in these rich June days at the Chateau Verneuil, when 


232 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


the triumphant Soames hid himself in Addiscombe’s 
law chambers, at London, to deliver the last letter 
of Doctor Lomax and Lawyer Endicott. 

The burly Addiscombe shouted in triumph, when 
he had finished the long screeds of the two Yankee 
emissaries. 

‘‘Who are his effects consigned to?” the solicitor 
asked. 

“All sealed, listed, and addressed to you!” was 
Soames’s reply. Addiscombe summed up the secret 
reports. 

“The body was not scalped, nor even robbed; his 
coat, revolver, and knife found scattered along two 
hundred yards;' the Indians never mounted the hilL 
but, attacked the lower camp from the east. The body 
was badly crushed and bruised! It might have been 
pitched down the rocks! Murdered? In whose in- 
terest? Why, that of only one man! This upstart 
who has just married old Larue’s only daughter! 

‘ Texas Dave,’ or his brother, killed him, and for his 
share of the mine! See here, Soames! We must see 
this man together! You are to keep away from him! 
I’ll put you in charge of my head clerk! He will pro- 
tect you from old Purvis and those fellows’ nonsense! 
Here is fifty pounds to have a good time! But you 
are not to leave my man’s company! And to-morrow 
morning I’ll have vou here to meet this Texan! If 
he did it. I’ll soon find it out! I will see the insurance 
people,” growled Addiscombe, when alone. “ They 
must aid me in this! I wonder if old Larue and this 
French upstart were reallv working together! This 
mysterious marriasre of the Yorkshire beauty, wedded 
like a barmaid, looks uglv! ” The angry man scented 
a rich future plunder. 

The whole force of the Cannon Street Hotel now 
knew the earnest Texan, before whom crowds of 
haonv investors and anxious officials bowed with an 
affectionate respect. 

For, in the extraordinary meetings of the New 
Mexico Cattle and Sheen Comnanv, the frank-faced 
cowbov had incrnr^'-t r> crprionl A steem. 

Tn vain did the Texan refuse the offered dignities'! 
He was unanimouslv voted in as Manager of the 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


233 


rehabilitated Company for one year, with an Assistant 
Manager to accompany him and learn the mysteries 
of the plains. 

Don Andres Armijo, from Albuquerque, by tele- 
graph, had accepted a directorship, and duly qualified 
by the cash purchase of one hundred thousand dol- 
lars’ worth of the Company’s debentures, paid over 
through Messrs. Rothschilds’ Bank. 

The necessary formalities had delayed the Texan, 
now chafing to return to his chubby infant son, the 
pride of Caliente. 

Guided by Bremond and the watchful lawyer, David 
Ross, Esq., had acquitted himself with much dignity. 
In fact, he had left his secret friends but seldom, and 
yet it happened on the morning after Soames’s arrival 
that when Mr. Addiscombe sought an interview at the 
Cannon Street hostelry, the Texan had departed for 
a lonely trip. 

“ I have some private business of my own,” reso- 
lutely said Ross, when Bremond offered to accompany 
him. “ I’ll be back here at noon! ” 

And then, a strange figure in a London hansom, 
“ Texas Dave ” sought out the gun factories of Web- 
lev. 

None of the smirking clerks suspected the errand 
of the anxious-faced man, portmanteau in hand, who 
' almly laid a couple of peculiar looking cartridges 
down on the counter. “ I wish to buy five hundred 
rounds of this special ammunition,” said Ross. 

And then, opening his portmanteau, he laid upon 
the counter the heavy belt weapon with which Raoul 
had slain his unsuspecting brother. 

“ They may go gunning after me as a representa- 
tive of foreign capital!” mused Dave. “Ah! My 
God! If I only knew! ” he sighed. 

After a half hour conning over old books, a man- 
aging clerk said gravely. “ We can not make or sell 
you this special ammunition, without the order of 
the gentleman for whom we made this pair.” 

“ Was none ever made like it for any one? ” eagerly 
said Ross. 

“ Never! ” confidently said the man. “ Caliber .60, 
steel-tipped slug bullets, swaged lead, double hard- 


234 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


ened with antimony. No ! That pair was made for 
the very heaviest game — for African use, I suppose. 
Bring us Captain Julian Hawtrey’s written permis- 
sion! ” 

“ He’s dead! ” gruffly said Ross. 

“Then, his lawyer’s!” said the clerk. “We gave 
a written guaranty to make nothing without his or- 
der. He paid for all the tools and di£s! There’s not 
a pair of revolvers like those in the whole world! Yes! 
that’s our special mark, and here’s the order num- 
ber! ” 

“Are those two of the bullets?” said the agitated 
Ross, laying down the battered fragments taken from 
Julian’s body. 

After a few moments’ examination with a glass, 
the expert said: “Yes! There are the steel tips driven 
in! By melting the two bullets, you will get the tips 
uninjured. They were specially made!” 

A half an hour later, Ross departed sadly, with a 
certificate sealed by the firm, after the battered lumps 
had been carefully weighed. 

“ See Mr. Addiscombe, his lawyer, who drew the 
guaranty! Let him release us, and we will fill your 
order,” said the polite tradesman; “ Here’s his ad- 
dress! ” 

“ I’ll see him, you bed ” growled Ross. 

Suddenly he turned, laying down a ten-pound note. 
“ Make the five hundred rounds and send it to the 
lawyer! I’ll get it from him!” 

“Why, certainly!” said the clerk. “There’s no 
objection to that. You shall have it in two days! He 
can do as he wishes! ” 

Pocketing his paid bill and the change, “ Texas 
Dave ’* drove back to his hotel. 

“ Nothing in the world like the two! Then I must 
see this man Mont Brun ! I’ll not go home till I do! ” 

The unchanged frontier simplicity of the man whose 
incoming wealth had not made him abandon his plain 
garb, caused the waiting Addiscombe to recognize 
“ Texas Dave,’* as he wrangled over the fare with 
his rapacious cabby. 

“ I must see you alone, and, not in this hotel ! ” 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


235 


said AddiScombe, as he glided to Ross’s side. “ I was 
Julian Hawtrey’s lawyer!” 

“By God!” cried Dave, “just the man I wanted 
to see! ” 

“ Come iiway quickly, then,” said the delighted Ad- 
discombe, and showing the Texan into a four-wheeler, 
in ten minutes the astonished Ross Was face to face 
with Soames. In a moment, he had written his per- 
mission to purchase the special ammunition, as de- 
sired, and still, he held his peace. 

Made furtive by his devotion to Artibroise Larue’s 
copper syndicate, still remembering Jitfian Hawtrey’s 
attempt to secretly survey the precious ground, and 
resolutely agnostic of Soatnes, “ Texas Dave ” lis- 
tened with no interest in the insurance company’s 
squabbles, until Addiscombe brought out, bit by bit, 
the implications of fortl play as to Sir Julian. 

While Soames had gathered up all the gossip of the 
camp, and adroitly followed out the ,secret instruc- 
tions of Lomax and EndiCott, these two keen officials 
had resolutely proceeded on the theory that Julian 
Hawtrey had been lured away and killed that some 
ohe should profit by the enormous insurance. 

Addiscombe sat watching a Texas Dave’S ” face 
narrowly. The frontiersman waS as unrrioved as a 
Comahche on sentinel's post, until the lawyer turned 
to him, and displayed a marked column of the “ Motn- 
ing Post.” 

“ Read thdt, and you will sOoii be convinced! ” said 
the burly advocate, smarting under the loss of this 
long-looked-for fortune, the administration ,of Com- 
bermere. 

During the long recital, “ Texas Dave ” had been 
led up to a conclusion which overcame him like a 
flash of lightning. “ fnlian HaWtrev and Mont Brun 
had met secretlv for long days to effect the surrepti- 
tious surveying! ” He himself had found in the Spring 
art open ore pit, on the shelf above where Julian s 
body was found. 

“They we’r p 'Aten alone together SeCfetlV before; 
why not on ‘ "hv? Who dug that ore pit? He 
might have killed him and pitched him over! The 
boys tell me that the dead man was all mashed up! 


236 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


But, the horse might have dragged him ! I will face 
Mont Brun or else, never leave Europe! They may 
have had an angry row! Who knows? ” 

“ How would you feel if the company alleges that 
either you or that man Mont Brim killed Sir Julian?” 
suddenly said Addiscombe. He leaped nimbly, aside 
as Ross sprang at him like a tiger. 

“Me?” he roared, shaking off Soames, who begged 
and entreated. 

“Just read it!” cried Addiscombe, dropping at 
“ Texas Dave’s ” mercy. 

“ What’s this here man got to do with it? ” fiercely 
said “Texas Dave.” “I never saw him!” 

“ Don’t you know that Mont Brun, the man who 
laid out the mine, is Sir Raoul Hawtrey! The brother 
of the dead man? And he’s just secretly marrie'd La- 
rue’s only daughter! ” cried Addiscombe. 

“ Texas Dave ” gasped and turned to Soames. 

“ God’s truth! ” said the valet. * “ I was with them 
when they met at Constantinople, and my dead master 
had this man two weeks in his rooms, when they 
went back on the last trip! ” 

“His brother! His brother! And so, he gets the 
mine and the title, and this rich girl, too! ” was Ross’s 
astonished utterance. 

“ Yes! ” said the lawyer, “ and they’ve slipped away 
and are hiding over in France! ” 

“By God! I’ve been tricked! I see it all now!” 
fiercely cried Dave Ross. “ You can see the insur- 
ance people. This whole thing ought to be investi- 
gated! But, I must first find Mont Brun and see him 
alone! I’ll not leave England till I do! Not a word 
of this to old man Larue! He’s my pardner, and a 
square man! ” 

Before the excited Texan left, an agreement had 
been reached. “ I’ll take a run over to Paris with 
Soames,” said Addiscombe, “ and trace the two broth- 
ers’ history out, from the first. Stay here, at all risks, 
till I return. I’ll give you an address to meet me 
secretly at night! ” 

When they were left alone, Addiscombe said: 
“Soames! This man never killed Julian, but. he 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 237 

knozvs who did! I’ll see the Scotland Yard people 
and have them both watched! ” 

Soames eagerly grasped his hand. “ Raoul had a 
handsome woman in Constantinople! She turned up 
later with Sir Aubrey! I’ll find her out!” 

“ If you do, your fortune is made! I see it all! ” 
cried Addiscombe. 


CHAPTER XIII. 

LAURE DUVERNAY’S AWAKENING THE “MORNING 

POST’s” NUPTIAL ANNOUNCEMENT “i WILL 

HAVE MY REVENGE ! ” 

Ambroise Larue was the very busiest man in Shef- 
field in these pleasant June days, when golden sun- 
light crept in among the shadows of the gloomy fac- 
tories. 

His rugged heart was at rest, for he felt that he had 
securely anchored his daughter’s happiness. 

“ No! I have made no mistake! Raoul is an intel- 
lect in a thousand; he is superbly trained! His ex- 
perience is extensive, and, both Bremond and Ralph 
Evans have confirmed his verdict upon the two 
mines! ” 

The Larue works were aflame night and day, turn- 
ing out the duplicated machinery of the “ Bear Val- 
ley ” to complete the plant of the “ Cienfuegos Com- 
pany.” 

Seated at ease in his library, the old Belgian, with 
Lymington, carefully scanned the final issues of the 
stock of the new Company. 

All the shares -of “Texas Dave” and Don Andres 
Armijo were to be deposited in their own name for 
safe-keeping in Rothschild’s Bank. 

“ With what loyal faith Raoul has acted! ” proudly 
thought the happy man, as he bundled up the certifi- 
cates indorsed.” Ambroise Larue ” and “ Raoul Mont 
Brun.” 

“ These must be indorsed by him to the order of 
Raoul Hawtrey, and then the harmless nom de voyage 
disappears forever! 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


238 

“Ten millions! Ten millions!” sighed the tri- 
umphant scientist. “ In five years, this mine will turn 
this out, with no real investment of external capital! 
And, only four stockholders! I must take Raoul' and 
Judith and visit this copper Golconda! We will have 
to issue a few trifling certificates to enable three or 
four men named by the Americans, and three or four 
by us, to act as Directors! And the trip must be made 
before the fall! I can see all the heavy machinery in 
operation, take a peep at America, and then Sir Raoul 
and Lady Hawtrey can settle down to their county 
paradise at Combermere. Bremond can make any 
visits of future inspection ! For, I am getting a bit 
old and rusty in harness ! ” 

He fondly folded up all the final returns of the 
working of the five hundred tons of the ore. 

The output had even exceeded the average assay 
values-! 

In the soft summer evening, the old man’s mind 
followed his beloved runaways. 

“ What a home-coming I will give them! All York- 
shire shall open its hospitable heart, and then, there is 
the round of Wessexshire! ” 

Larue gazed tenderly at a picture of his happy tru- 
ant. 

“Life and Love! God bless them in their young 
days, and guard and guide them ! ” 

Perfectly secure in Raoul Hawtrey’s talents, he now 
wandered in the cloudland of the future to see his 
gifted son-in-law enter the peerage. 

“ Why not? ” he mused. “ Beer, thread, railways, 
finance, a dozen occupations have led money-princes 
into the upper house! And my patents, the work of 
my brains, mv great plant here, with the treasure- 
house of the Painted Mountains, represent every hu- 
man element of success!” 

He ran back the narrow path of hopes and fears 
over which he had passed to the indisputable control 
of the Cienfuegos. 

“ It has been a marvelous campaign! Sir Aubrey’s 
death was, of course, a windfall of Fate, but if Julian 
had obtained the secret control of the North and 
South Extension, he would have robbed ‘ Texas 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


239 


Dave ’ and myself! I must meet this Mexican,’ Don 
Andres Armijo! He has a wonderful sweep of brain, 
tact, and power! Yes! Julian’s saturnine greed was 
the first danger, and the possible meddling of the 
Rothschilds with ‘ Texas Dave ’ as a man in the open 
market. They would have swallowed me up! I could 
not cope with the inexhaustible credit of those world- 
famous financiers 1 ” 

And, Ambroise Larue now, knew but one annoy- 
ance — the evident ugliness of Addiscombe and the 
possible gossip and scandal of the returned valet! 

“ Bah! Kitchen gossip! ” sneered Larue, as he re- 
flected upon “ Texas Dave’s ” early departure from 
England. 

From his recalled agent he knew of the completion 
of Ross’s negotiations with the Cattle Company, and 
that the frontiersman was only awaiting the designa- 
tion of his Sub-manager to start on his westward 
journey. 

“ All is safe now,” mused Larue, as he finished his 
good-night pipe. “ I can easily extract any gossip 
from Ross on his visit! He is as open as the day, 
,and Bremond has him well in hand.” 

The last rhinor annoyance of the insurance com- 
pany’s delay was adjusting itself with time. Solicitor 
Purvis had already smoothed over the formalities, 
and the sealed case containing the remains of the 
dead Baronet was already resting in the crypt under 
the Combermere church. 

“ I suppose when Addiscombe has examined all 
poor Julian’s belongings, and pumped Soames dry, 
that he will agree in the intestacy of the unhappy 
man! What a freak of fortune! Millions in the fu- 
ture, a fortune and a title, all showered upon him, to 
pass at the touch of a trigger, by a ruthless painted 
savage! ” 

Larue was in good humor, for he had sent Lyming- 
ton away with the olive branch to the Lancashire 
Insurance Company. “ Anything in reason — any- 
thing! ” And so, the old legal veteran had written 
to his best client that “ nothing seemed to be in the 
way of an early and amicable adjustment!” 

Just as Madame De Vrees handed Larue his sleep- 


240 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


mg’ draft, a Flemish compound of mysterious vir- 
tues, the butler handed two telegrams to the lonely 
master of “ The Priory.” And Ambroise Larue's 
face darkened as he read Bremond’s warning words: 

“ The Texan has suddenly disappeared. Luggage 
removed in night. No traces so far. Send instruc- 
tions. Shall I come up?” 

The old man’s scowl deepened as he read the 
second, from his trusted solicitor: 

“ Company suddenly breaks off all. Demand 
searching investigation. Addiscombe not in London. 
Valet has disappeared. Wire me your directions.” 

“There is treachery somewhere!” roared the en- 
raged millionaire. “ I will grind the whole gang to 
poivder! ” 

The messenger was racing away with telegrams 
to both the lawyer and Bremond to return instantly, 
when Ambroise Larue reflected upon the one weak 
joint in his own armor. 

“ I must keep ‘ Texas Dave ’ away from my son-in- 
law! These busybodies have excited the honest f el-' 
low’s mind, and he must go home without knowing 
that Mont Brun and Raoul Hawtrey were ofie and 
the same! ” 

And so, with an eager hand, he sent a letter under 
private seal, to San Felicien, to warn Sir Raoul per- 
sonally. He feared to use the telegraph! “Well, 
well! Counsel comes with the morning! ” sighed the 
sturdy old man. “ There is some mystery in this, far ' 
beyond my old eyes ! ” 

And while the father slept the untroubled sleep of 
innocence, there was a keen cabal of enemies plotting 
to strike him to the very heart! For the crafty dis- 
putants saw only in the apparently mysterious death 
of Sir Julian Hawtrey a plot to rob the dead man of 
bis interest in the mine, instigated and warily con- 
ducted by Larue. The heavy insurance was but a 
mask to the deeper villainy, in the eyes of the men 
who had succeeded in luring “ Texas Dave ” out of 
London! For, Addiscombe’s detectives had easily 
followed the flowery trail of the young lovers, and 
Larue’s defeated men had failed to shadow David 
v os& in his mysterious, sudden disappearance. 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


2 4 I 


On the morning when Ambroise Larue awoke to 
a burden of new cares, Addiscombe, Soames, and the 
now unhappy Texan were breakfasting moodily, in an 
obscure Parisian *hotel upon Montmartre. 

“ Leave all to me, Mr. Ross,” said the burly Addis- 
combe. “ Of course, the first place they will look 
for us' is in Paris ! Now, Soames and I will find this 
blind trail very quickly! All that you have to do is to 
remain here with my man Howgate. He knows every 
corner of Paris. I have often used him as a detect- 
ive! And, all I ask of you is, that you only go out 
at night, and.” faltered the lawyer, “ let Howgate 
change your appearance a little! ” 

“ Why? ” cried “ Texas Dave,” angrily flushing, and 
glancing at himself in the glass. 

Addiscombe gently indicated the flowing locks, the 
high boots, the “ store coat ” of the West, and the 
degagee waistcoat and cowboy tie. 

In fact, they were not Poole or Bond Street, and 
even the eccentrics of the Latin Quarter stared at the 
stern frontiersman. 

“ You see, if he dresses you while you are on this 
trip,” the lawyer soothingly said, “ our party can not 
be traced by your garb.” 

“Fire away!” said Ross. “That’s fixed! Now, 
what do you propose? ” 

“ We have each our part,” said the lawyer. 
“ Soames goes ope way, I another, and then, we meet 
and come back to you! After this delay, which is 
necessary for prudence, say a week, we will put you 
on your man! Then, when you have had your private 
interview, you can either join us or else leave us to 
finish it. In any way, your own good name will not 
be hazarded!” 

“ I’d like to see the man who would blacken my 
name! ” said Ross, feeling instinctively for something 
which did not hang at his side. “ Either him or I 
would go off in a box! ” 

“ This man is no fool, and he has not been made a 
tool of in this murder, if such there were ! ” mused 
Addiscombe, as he drove away to look up Notary 
Achille Duprat, No. 5 Rue Paradis. “ And yet, he 
knows, or thinks he knows, all or a part of the truth! 


242 ' BROUGHT TO BAY. 

There is but one crafty brain behind all of this — old 
Larue ! ” 

And, long before Addiscombe had lured Notary 
Duprat off to a little dejeuner, the brisk walet had 
reached the Gare de Lyon, and was speeding away 
to Fontainebleau. 

Both lawyer and valet were social spies, and yet 
their points of attack varied, though the medium was 
the same, jingling French gold! 

Addiscombe proposed to attack the brain of the old 
bon vivant through the stomach, even to squandering 
a couple of hundred francs. 

Soames was prepared to drop the glittering pour 
boire into the open palms of the avaricious French 
domestics of the Villa Duvernay. 

Solicitor Addiscombe’s extended correspondence 
with Notary Duprat in the long search for the wan- 
dering’ Raoul Hawtrey had made the two very fair 
gaugers of each other’s character, and the Englishman 
had rightly divined that Duprat was the depositary of 
many of the wandering engineer’s secrets. 

“ I wonder if this old devil knows of the secret his- 
tory of Aubrey Hawtrey’s quiet wrecking over here?/’ 

And, musing thus, Addiscombe plied all the arts of 
the host, while dexterously avoiding Raoul Hawtrey’s 
name. 

Before the raffine feast was halfway done, Duprat 
knew of Addiscombe’s desire to close up all matters 
connected with the affairs of the late Sir Julian Haw- 
trey. 

And, it was an easy transition to Sir Aubrey’s ill- 
ness, the scandals of Monsieur le Docteur Richepin’s 
“ specialism,” and the quiet orgies of the Villa Du- 
vernay. 

Anxious to still further alarm and frighten off the 
gay adventuress, old Duprat talked freely, and — too 
much! He only saw in the lawyer’s keen question- 
ings a desire to recoup the estate for the missing per- 
sonal property and pillage of the valetudinarian pa- 
trician! 

“Dame! I may as well get him out of Paris!” 
mused Duprat, as he applied himself to the “ yellow 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


243 


seal,” and furtively winked at the coming champagne 
f rappee. 

“ The Comtesse Laure Duvernay! Belle diable! 
Yes! ” growled Duprat. “She is a risen star in the 
demi monde elegant i Nothing can touch her — she now 
reigns over Prince Furstenberg, at Vienne, or Ischl, 
diable salt ou! But, le bon medecin Richepin ! He is, 
as you know, a specialist! All his fees, his honorar- 
iums, are pouched for good! And as to the funeral 
expenses, all the incidentals, you know, mon collegue, 
decidedly, the French law is against the foreigner!” 

While the vin frappee did its work, Addiscombe 
adroitly went over the whole history of the trust 
which had been closed up for the two brothers Haw- 
trey. 

“ There is not a loose string in all that! ” said the 
notary, with pride. “ It _ was all settled through the 
Credit Lyonnais, and, I had the honor of adjusting 
all! ” 

Before the final adjournment to the office for an 
inspection of les archives, the crafty old Frenchman, 
like Merlin, in the arms of Vivien, had yielded and 
told exactly what his cher collbgue desired to know. 

Still ignorant of Sir Julian’s smoldering designs 
in taking his unknown brother westward, under an 
innocently assumed name, Addiscombe saw only a 
dark compact of murder, implicating Larue and the 
young bridegroom. 

“ They squeezed poor Julian dry, and lanced him 
like a sucked orange,” mused Addiscombe, when he 
promised to revisit his cher confrere after the “ beaten 
track ” tour of the Rhine and Switzerland. 

And, well pleased, he awaited the return of Soames, 
to whom he had given a rendezvous at a small Eng- 
lish sporting hotel, patronized by the jockeys and 
welshers of old Albion. 

With no eye for the beauties of nature, the alert 
Soames briskly descended at Fontainebleau, after an 
hour spent in making his plans. With difficulty, the 
veteran Continental tourist cut off the valet de place's 
harangue, as to the foret, the Palais, the bglise, and the 
Hotel de Ville. 

“ Look sharp! ” he said, twirling a Napoleon; “ get 


244 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


me a fiacre! I wish to go to the Villa Duvernay!” 

And Soames enjoyed, with a broad' grin, the power 
of money as they rattled on through the broad streets. 
He deigned not even a glance at the statue of Gen- 
eral Damesne, while the laquais glibly recounted the 
units d’cte and nuits d'hiver of the beautiful Comtesse 
Duvernay. 

“ Belle comme ane ange, the friend of a great Eng- 
lish milord, the charmante deesse” etc., all of which 
was interrupted by their arrival at the secluded villa 
where Sir Aubrey Hawtrey had yielded up his wretched 
life. 

“A paradise — a paradise!” murmured Soames. a 
half-hour later, when he pressed a napoleon into the 
hand of the dashing garde de chambre. “ Unfortu- 
nately, it was not for rent this season ! Madame la 
Comtesse had still another year, at her disposal.” 

And so, Soames babbled on, while he recognized in 
the superb picture in the drawing-room the beautiful 
woman to whose villa in Constantinople he had tracked 
Raoul by the secret orders of his dead master. 

“ Yes! It’s the very same! And, while she .was get- 
ting this poor, sick duffer, Sir Aubrey, over the Styx, 
her lover was dogging my poor master in those damned 
Western mountains.” A sudden desire for revenge- 
seized upon Soames ! “ They’ve done me out of a life’s 
profits!” he growled. And then, he jingled a hun- 
dred francs in gold before the astonished woman’s eyes. 

“ She never lived here alone a year with that death’s- 
head fellow, I’ll wager ! ” he remarked. “ La Comtesse 
had her lover in Paris.” The gold was jingling merrily 
now. “You followed her on her little trips?” The 
woman’s hand was extended greedily. “Tell me all. 
first,” coolly said the cosmopolitan Soames, chucking 
her under the chin. “ I know a little now ; I will know 
more after you have earned this money ! ” 

With an unmoved face, Soames listened to the story 
of Laure Durvernay’s stolen visits to the Hotel de 
l’Aigle, at Suresnes ; of the circuitous means taken to 
reach there, and outwit her jealous and querulous lover. 

“ I hate them both ! ” passionately said the woman. 
“ The housekeeper is her sister, and she rules us with 
a rod of iron. I followed her to find out her tricks,” 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


245 


said the Frenchwoman. “ I played sick for a couple 
of weeks, and I found out where she passed her stolen 
days. And, her real lover was such a handsome fel- 
low ! ” * 

Is that the man?” suddenly said Soames, produc- 
ing Raoul’s photograph, stolen from his dead master’s 
writing-table. 

“ The very same ! Monsieur Raoul Mont Brun ! If 
you wish to know all, see the head waiter at the Hotel 
de l’Aigle. He always served them privately, on the 
stolen visits ! He is a friend of mine ! ” said the woman, 
with a guilty blush. 

" Can you meet me there, to-night, on any pretext? ” 
said Soames, balancing the coins. 

“ Yes, yes ! ” eagerly said the woman. “ We only 
keep order till they come back from Ischl ! ” 

“ Then, there’s your money ! ” coolly said Soames, 
dropping the napoleons into her trembling hand. “ I 
shall hurry there direct, and stay all night at the Hotel 
de l’Aigle! Ask for Mr. Edwards! Here are twenty 
francs for your fare ! There will be another fifty wait- 
ing you there ; but, I wish a picture of this woman — the 
Duvernay ! ” 

“I’ll steal you a dozen ! ” laughed the woman. “ There 
are hundreds— in every costume — in her boudoir!” 

“Good! I’m off!” said the victorious Soames. 
“ Bring me one of Prince Furstenberg also! ” 

“ Easy enough ! ” cried the spying maid. “ Go ahead ! 
I will start in half an hour, and be at Suresnes long 
before you, if you go through Paris ! ” 

While the discontented Soames was being whirled 
back to Paris, there were dreams of easily gotten plun- 
der in his rapacious mind. 

“ I will seal this woman’s tongue ! Old Addiscombe 
can be content with knowing she is at Ischl with this 
princely Austrian attache. I may force a good sum out 
of her. I may get a better price from Sir Raoul Haw- 
trey — who knows ? Or, I may be Addiscombe’s trump- 
card ! There’s a jolly lot of brass in this for me, any- 
way ! ” 

It was dark before Soames met his employer, who 
had executed a coup de main. Adcfiscombe had sud- 
denly descended upon Monsieur le Docteur Richepin, 


246 


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who, reassured by Laure Duvernay’s flight, had re- 
turned to Paris from Marseilles, where he had been 
ready to flee to cover in Algeria, at the first signal 
from Paris. 

The crafty Parisian quaked under Addiscombe’s 
stern questioning, until the lawyer frankly offered the 
olive branch. “ I know the private life of the late Sir 
Aubrey Hawtrey/’.said Addiscombe ; “ and I will shield 
and protect you, if you aid me to recover certain pa- 
pers which, I believe, fell into the hands of this woman, 
when the unfortunate nobleman died. You shall rest 
secure ! And, in any further annoyances of Jarvis, Pur- 
vis & Jarvis, the family solicitors, I will protect you — 
if you aid me ! Without me, you may be ruined ! With 
me, you are safe ! ” 

“ And what must I do? ” cried Richepin. 

“ Only one thing,” grimly said the triumphant solic- 
itor. “ Take your card, and write upon it: ‘ Solicitor 
Addiscombe knows everything. Consult your safety by 
dealing with him.’ Sign that, date it, and write your 
name on it ! ” 

“ Volontiers ! ” joyously exclaimed Richepin. “ And 
I am to be free of all trouble ? ” 

“ Simply give me the name of your avocat, and I 
will write him that you have retained and paid me to 
defend your English interests! I will leave you the 
letter now ! ” 

And thus it was, that Addiscombe was in a buoyant 
mood, when he received Soames’s dubious report. 

“ She has a sister here, this bright one,” said Soames, 
“ and, with a little time, I may run her down ! ” 

Addiscombe quickly gave his orders. “ I will take 
the next train for Munich. You will find me at Ischl, 
at the best hotel. Go up and see that Howgate has this 
Texan wild man decently clothed. Tell them we will be 
gone a few days. You are to follow me, by the mid- 
night train, to-morrow ! I may need you, as a mere lay 
figure, to frighten la Comtesse Duvernay. Sift out 
about the sister, and I will have my detectives follow 
up the clews ! ” 

In ten minutes, Soames was speeding away to Mont- 
martre, and found the cowboy transformed into a singu- 
larly insignificant-looking individual. 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


247 


“ Texas Dave ” grimly smiled, as he said to Soames : 
“ Tell him I will give him two weeks, and then — I’m 
off for New York, by Havre. I have telegraphed to 
London to send my sub-manager on, and I’ve cabled to 
Don Andres Armijo! So long will I wait, and, no 
longer ! ” 

“ All right, sir,” said Soames, as he dashed away to 
the best line, to take the train at Gare St. Lazare, on 
the Ligne des Moulineaux, for Suresnes-Longchamps. 

It was midnight when Soames entered the Hotel de 
l’Aigle, but Henri, the head waiter, was on watch for 
Monsieur Edwards. 

“ The best room in the house, a good supper, and — 
serve it yourself ! ” cried the exhausted man. 

“ Tres bien, Monsieur! ” the snug gargon murmured. 
“ And, Elise shall set the table! She has been waiting 
for you for four hours! ” 

All the next day, Soames went over every detail ot 
the hidden life of the two conspirators who had plotted 
the wrecking of Sir Aubrey Hawtrey’s miserable ex- 
istence. 

Henri, the voluble, and Elise, the expectant, spared 
nothing of the details of the hidden life of the guilty 
pair. 

And Soames, with a fine affectation of superiority, 
drank his brandy and soda while the history of the 
past filtered into his tenacious mind. 

It was in the early evening that he mingled with the 
crowd at the Longchamps station. He had crossed the 
palm of the head waiter, and given Elise her infa- 
mously earned additional wages. 

“ Look you ! ” he said, sharply, “ I want no babbling 
to anyone else! If there is, I shall hear of it. And 
you will be chased out of Villa Duvernay into the 
street, without a character! If you are discreet and 
silent, I may come back and give you a run over to 
London ! And I shall know ! ” 

The frightened woman pledged her fidelity. “ Now 
prove it ! ” said Soames, as he carefully noted the ad- 
dress of the den where Laure Duvernay’s sister had 
left her family, while masquerading as the housekeeper 
of the trap into which Prince Furstenberg had fallen. 

With cautious celerity, Soames, reaching Paris, avoid- 


248 


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ed every possible place where Ambroise Larue’s spies 
might find him. 

“ I think the old man has outwitted them all, but no 
one but this crafty scoundrel was the prime agent in the 
mystery. If all else fails,- Larue is good for a jolly 
swag, as he will not see his daughter disgraced. But 
never a thing does old Addiscom.be get till he pays for 
it ! He’s a sly old fox, and. he would throw me ! ” 

It was a lovely June day when Walter Addiscombe 
left the train in romantic Ischl. His eyes rested in de- 
light upon the superb gardens, and he marked, with 
the eye 1 of a connoisseur, the windings of the River 
Traun. 

Already the bathing season had opened, and the vil- 
las in the sculptured hills around Salzburg were crowd- 
ed with the gay butterflies of fashion. 

“ Hotel der Kaiser — yes ! ” he absently said, as the 
gold hatbanded haupt portier seized upon the prosper- 
ous-looking Englishman. 

All the way from Paris the lawyer had meditated 
upon the course to pursue with the audacious star of the 
baleful demi-monde. 

“ There is no use to mince matters,” mused Addis- 
combe. “ I’ll try the effect of a sudden surprise.” A 
man of the world, and a quiet debauchee, Addiscombe 
was as much a boulevardier as Raoul Hawtrey now 
wandering among the vine trellises of San Felicien. 
“ Old Larue is undoubtedly on the watch now ! He 
will be astonished at ‘ Texas Dave’s ’ disappearance I 
And, if I appear near San Felicien, this shy bird may 
take wing before Dave Ross faces him ! Why should 
I wait for Soames? He may be useful only to con- 
front this woman ! But, if Larue gets in ahead of me, 
the game is spoiled ! ” 

To his infinite joy, the astute lawyer found many 
telegrams awaiting him at Ischl ! Many useful daily 
reports from his own detectives at San Felicien. 

“ So, the honeymoon runs on ! ” laughed Addis- 
combe. “ The birds are still within reach.” 

Six hours after his arrival, Walter Addiscombe knew 
the villa where Prince Furstenberg was gaylv spend- 
ing the opening of the season. 

With a commendable prudence, the young diplomat 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 24Q 

had filled his summer nest with its gayest birds, be- 
fore the arrival of the Emperor. 

Twenty florins fo the porter at the lodge easily gave 
Addiscombe his cue. The absence of the Prince and 
his male guests at a wild-goat hunt of a week, told 
him that the coast was clear. And, Madame la Com- 
tesse Laure Duvernay was a guest at the villa. 

Dressing himself in the garb of the gilded world, 
Walter Addiscombe complacently drove through the 
lodge gates, when the silver stars were shining down 
upon the Salzburg. 

His heart beat excitedly when, seated in the dainty 
drawing-room of the lodge, he heard a light step in the 
hall. 

Bowing with the deepest respect, he stood for a mo- 
ment, marveling at the insolently triumphant beauty of 
this femme incomprise. 

" You have business with me, Monsieur? Impos- 
sible ! ” said Laure Duvernay ; surveying the stranger 
with a sudden distrust. 

“ I have come from London and Paris solely to see 
you,” gravely answered the lawyer. 

“And why, may I ask?” disdainfully demanded 
Laure, her cheeks paling. 

“ To save you from ruin ! ” resolutely replied the 
lawyer. “ Let us speak English, if you understand that 
tongue ! The servants might overhear our French ! ” 

Laure Duvernay had turned, with her hand upon the 
bell, to summon assistance. But, silently extending a 
card, Walter Addiscombe cowed the imperious wanton 
by his stern glance. 

“ Before you are mad enough to ruin yourself — 
read ! ” he sharply said. And then the excited woman, 
with a trembling hand, took the extended card. 

Laure Duvernay read the words written by the cow- 
ardly Richepin, and sank into a chair, trembling and 
dismayed. 

But, with a last effort, she sprang up, facing her 
tormentor. “ If Adolph Furstenberg were here, he 
would have his huntsmen lash you from the gates like 
a hunted stag ! ” 

“You forget that I am an Englishman!” bitterly 
said the lawyer. “ Let us have an end of this foolish- 


250 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


ness! Do you wish to be denounced as a criminal? 
Read that ! ” 

And then Walter Addiscombe handed the frenzied 
woman, now at bay, the copy of the “ Morning Post,” 
which blazened the splendid marriage connection of the 
man who had so romantically succeeded to the Hawtrey 
estates. 

With a low cry, Lar.re dropped the paper, and fell 
into Addiscombe’s supporting arms ! 

“ Calm yourself ! For your own sake — there has 
been a foul, crime committed!” said the astounded 
lawyer. But, the reckless woman cast him off in a 
frenzy of sudden rage ! 

“ The liar ! The coward ! fie has abandoned me 1 
I will seek the earth over! And, I shall have my re- 
venge! Married! Where is he?” 

“ Did you not know that Julian Hawtrey was dead? 
That this man has fallen into his vast fortune — to 
his title — to marry even the woman whom Julian 
adored? That someone murdered Julian, after you and 
Richepin had dragged the feeble Sir Aubrey into a 
hell whirpool ? ” 

But, the Comtesse Duvernay heeded him not ! She 
had hardened into stone. “Where is he? Only tell 
me ! ” 

“ Not so fast, my lady ! ” growled Addiscombe. 
“You were to have me lashed from your gates ! Find 
him for yourself ! ” 

The maddened woman seized his wrists in a des- 
perate grasp. “ I only live for vengeance now! Take 
me to him ! ” she said, in an accent which made Addis- 
combe shudder. “ A life for a life ! Let me see him 
first, and— then — I will work your will ! But, he must 
know who drags him down ! ” 

“ Tell me all,” sternly said Addiscombe. 

“ Not until I have faced him before this country 
beauty ! I shall see that you do not lie. Then — by the 
God above — he shall pay the price of a broken oath ! ” 

The lawyer saw his advantage. “ I leave here to- 
morrow,” he said, coldly. “ I only await your deci- 
sion ! You have to-night to think this all over ! Fall 
with him, or — aid to revenge Julian Hawtrey’s mys- 
terious murder — cut off in the flower of his youth ! I 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


25 1 


shall be* reasonable ! But — if you clo not yield to me, 
then — I will give you over to the authorities! ” 

“ Where can I meet you ? ” demanded Laure, a wild 
light in her eyes. 

“ I shall be at the Hotel der Kaiser, awaiting you all 
to-morrow ! I intend to leave for London on the even- 
ing train ; but, if you defy me, I go to our Ambassador 
at Vienna to demand a warrant for you. 1 am the 
attorney of Julian Hawtrey’s estate. Those who killed 
him destroyed his will! There is justice to be done! ” 

“ Go, go! ” cried Laure Duvernay. “ I will come to 
your rooms to-morrow, at nine. If you do not deceive 
me, I will go with you, face him, and denounce him ! 
If this is true, then I will give him over into your 
hands! If you have deceived me, he will know how 
to defend himself ! ” 

“If you tell me the truth, I will protect you ! ’’ reas- 
suringly said Addiscombe. “ If you attempt to evade 
me to-night, the world is not wide enough for you to 
hide ! Remember ! ” 

Picking up the card and journal, the victorious Ad- 
discombe laid his own card upon the table. “ Au revoir, 
bientot Madame la Comtesse ! ” said the cool English- 
man. “ Je suis a vos ordres!” 

“ A pretty good campaign ! ” mused the lawyer, as 
he lit a cigar and sauntered down through the grounds 
to his waiting carriage. “ I must keep this vixen away 
from ‘ Texas Dave,’ or, the cowboy might deal with 
her direct ! ” 

And all that evening, while the gay waltzers. swung 
in the Kursaal, the stolid Englishman silently watched 
the merrymakers. He was revolving plans which 
brought to him the possibility of the sweetest revenge 
in life — to see old Ambroise Larue, broken-hearted, 
humbled in the dust! 

“Iam safe,” muttered Addiscombe. “ My detectives 
will follow Sir Raoul, if he bolts, even to the North 
Pole ! It is a social ruin to old Larue to have the stately 
bride deserted ! Sir Raoul can take nothing away ! 
There is' but one course for me, and that is to watch 
‘ Texas Dave’ myself! If there is any real evidence, 
he has it! Let this scorned woman torture herself! 
She will tell all she knows ! And — if she faces him? ” 


252 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


Addiscombe laughed grimly over the thought of a 
spasm of returning tenderness on the part of the French 
adventuress ! “ Judith Larue is the old man’s darling ! 
Left alone, abandoned, she would be the very monu- 
ment of my victory.” 

And, while Laure Duvernay paced her room in the 
villa on the heights like a caged tigress, Addiscombe 
waited for the arrival of Soames, whose telegram even 
now was at hand. 

It was noon the next day before the long duel of 
wits between the unyielding lawyer and the helpless ad- 
venturess ended. 

The stormy heart of the Frenchwoman still hid Raoul 
Hawtrey’s secrets. And Soames, chafing on his outer 
watch, longed for the dawn of his fortunes. 

A sudden inspiration seized upon Addiscombe, as he 
vainly urged Laure Duvernay to a confession. “ You 
have nothing — absolutely nothing against me ! ” she de- 
fiantly cried. And, though there were great, dark rings 
under her haggard eyes, the woman whose heart was 
secretly shaken was obdurate. 

“ I will end this matter ! ” cried the angered Addis- 
combe. “ Here, as fny companion, is Julian Hawtrey’s 
valet, who for years was his dead master’s only confi- 
dant. You may go on by Geneva to Grenoble and Va- 
lence, and I will have him conduct you to your false 
lover’s hiding-place. You will find him there, with 
the woman who has supplanted you. See for yourself! 
I will go to. Paris and come down by Nevers and Lyons, 
and meet you, armed with the witnesses and the proofs ! 
Then you shall choose between your revenge and your 
own safety ! I will use Richepin ” 

“ A dolt ! An old idiot ! He knows nothing ! ” cried 
Laure. “ I alone can give a life for a life ! But you 
shall prove to me that your words are true ! I will go ! 
After I see him in the arms of his wife, I shall not need 
your words.” 

It was in the dusk of the early evening that Soames re- 
spectfully escorted the veiled woman to her carriage. 
Addiscombe’s luggage was already at the station. With 
a quick wit, he had suggested the sending of a tele- 
gram calling Madame la Comtesse suddenly to Paris. 

“ My agent will send it, before your trunks are 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


253 


packed,” said Addiscombe. “ It will explain your sud- 
den departure. Soames can meet you at the train.” 

When the valet saw Addiscombe depart for Paris, he 
asked for his instructions. 

“ Nothing, except to keep her in sight, for after she 
has faced her lover, she will naturally return to Paris, 
and there, we can easily trace out her sister’s hidden 
domicile. Simply to keep them all under watch is my 
policy, until someone babbles and gives away the mys- 
tery. You have my address to telegraph ! Do not let 
her feel that I constrain her! If she bolts, simply fol- 
low her ! Here is a hundred pounds ! And, notify me 
of all ! ” 

As the lawyer hurried back to Paris, he dreamed over 
the strange entanglement. The cautious Soames had 
hidden his own valuable information. ” I can easily 
read her woman’s desire to upbraid the faithless one,” 
sneered Addiscombe. “ But, I shall not leave ‘ Texas 
Dave ’ a moment ! For he either wants the certainty of 
the truth or some concession from Sir Raoul ! The 
woman seeks only her revenge ! She is a mad woman, 
and I believe that she loved the fellow, after all ! ” 

The strangely assorted couple who left the train at 
Valence two days later attracted the attention of the 
gossips of the station. 

In all the voyage the valet, traveling en second, had 
respectfully waited upon the woman whose easy luxury 
en premier indicated a high social rank. 

' But, after a visit to the telegraph office, Joseph 
Soames briskly approached his companion, with a new 
light in his eyes. “ We are to wait here three hours, Ma- 
dame,” he said, “for the two agents who will conduct 
you to Sir Raoul Hawtrey’s home. Let us go to an 
hotel, for if there is anyone who can guide you through 
this dangerous environment, who can save you, I am the 
nian — the only man — and — we must understand each 
other ! Without me, you are lost ! ” Laure Duver- 
nay’s anger rose, at the presumption. “ For God’s sake, 
don’t be a fool ! ” roughly said the eager Soames. “ I 
have known all about you ever since I tracked Raoul 
Hawtrey to your house in Constantinople! And my 
master, Captain Julian, had no secrets from me! I 
waited on his brother, Raoul, two weeks in London, 


254 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


when the two brothers were together, and I heard all 
this lady-killer’s brag about you ! Wait, till I tell you 
what 1 know ! ” 

In half an hour, Laure Duvernay saw the gulf yawn- 
ing beneath her feet ! For, remorselessly, Soames re- 
called the whole association of the man who had slain 
his brother with the trembling woman before him. 

“Does Addiscombe know of this?” faltered Laure, 
as Soames, a veteran in intrigue, traced out the whole 
conspiracy against the life^of Sir Aubrey Hawtrey. 

“ No! ” said the emboldened servant. “ I have held 
it back ! Sir Raoul Hawtrey may wish to purchase 
his safety ! You say that Doctor Richepin knows noth- 
ing! True! And you are the only one who can be 
sacrificed ! For Sir Raoul Hawtrey may save himself 
by the absence of direct evidence from the implication 
of murdering his brother ! But, he will surely turn on 
you ! He will accuse you of the robbery and pillage of 
Sir Aubrey, and defend himself,, while urging both Ad- 
discombd and the Jarvis firm to hound you for Sir Au- 
brey’s early death. Whether Sir Aubrey was killed or 
not, Richepin only prescribed for him — Sir Raoul never 
entered the villa at Fontainebleau — and you robbed the 
poor debauchee, if you did not kill him. You are the 
one friendless one who will be surely caught in the net ! 
A long imprisonment is your sure doom, if I tell Addis- 
combe what I know ! ” 

“ And, if I do what you would advise, how shall I 
save myself ? ” faltered Laure, who recognized the truth 
of all Soames’s interesting reminiscences. 

“ They can never trace you back, save through me ! ” 
said Soames. “ And, if you only have the nerve, you 
can punish Sir Raoul Hawtrey, and protect yourself ! ” 

“ How? ” demanded the terrified woman. 

“ Make him pay over to you the same sum of money 
which you would have expected as the wife of Sir Raoul 
Hawtrey of Combermere ! Say nothing of the murder 
of Julian ! Ambroise Larue has millions of his own — 
millions more will be soon smelted from these hor- 
rible hills ! Addiscombe only seeks revenge for Larue’s 
behavior! With me at your side,” Soames persuasively 
said, “ you are safe! I can warn you of every move of 
Addiscombe ! Larue would pay you nothing ! He 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


255 


would crush you like a worm, brutally, under his heel ! 
Addiscombe has no money ! Sir Raoul will nqt dare 
to talk if I hold my peace, for he will try to protect 
himself ! But money — money we must have — you and 


“ And your price ? ” said the helpless woman. 

“ Half of what you force out of Raoul Hawtrey ! ” 
deliberately said Soames. “ I will see Richepin pri- 
vately, and warn him that Addiscombe knows really 
nothing, and I will seal his mouth. In this way, Raoul 
Hawtrey shall pay you to the last farthing! He is 
already married ! It would not right you to break that 
woman’s heart who knows naugh of you ! But, your 
silence will be golden, and I will protect you, and Haw- 
trey must pay you through me! He can not elude us 
now ! If you and I stand together, we will conquer, 
for you never went to America ! That you were Sir 
Aubrey’s favorite, can not be gainsaid. With Richepin’s 
weak courage strengthened, with me at your side, this 
gallant Prince Furstenberg will champion you ! It is 
for Raoul Hawtrey to face, alone , the consequences of 
his deeds in the Painted Mountains ! Only the Texan 
and he are responsible for Julian’s myterious death. 
The struggle to the death is between them, and, at the 
last, Raoul’s ruin is your safety! Should the crime be 
traced home to both of them, old Larue will buy your 
silence! If the Texan alone is guilty, Raoul himself 
will pay, for he knows what you know of the way 
that the path was made clear to this vast inheritance ! ” 

“ And if he killed his brother, and, the Texan 
knows ? ” said Laure. 

“ Then, Addiscombe will hound him down, and old 
Larue will pay to cover up the disgrace ! ” 

“ We are comrades in life and death ! ” said Laure. 
“ Save me from harm ! I agree to all ! And Fursten- 
berg shall take you under his protection ! I begin 
my work now ! ” 

In ten minutes, Laure Duvernay dispatched a tele- 
gram to her watchful sister to pay off all her servants, 
place responsible guardians in charge of the villa, and 
to hide herself in the humble home of her infancy. 


256 


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CHAPTER XIV. 

SIR RAOUl/S MYSTERIOUS VISITOR THE HONEYMOON 

AT SAN FELICIEN “ MONSIEUR LE MARQUIS ! ” 

Madame la Comtesse Laure Duvernay guarded a 
gloomy silence as she wandered in the garden of a 
secluded farmhouse, three miles from San Felicien, 
two days after her compact with the energetic Soames. 

With a quick, self-protective instinct, Laure had tel- 
egraphed to Doctor Richepin from Valence. Her words 
were a two-edged sword to the old medical spider. 

“ Hein ! I may have made a mistake ! ” mused Rich- 
epin, hidden securely in his consulting office, when he 
read the message : 

“ The English lawyer really knows nothing as yet. 
Keep silence, and I will aid you. If you abandon me, 

I will attack you, for disclosing the most sacred pro- 
fessional secrets ! And Furstenberg will stand by me.” 

“ She is fearless, this one,” muttered the old man. 
"And, after all, she has nothing to lose! I have! 
She can go back and hide with her Constantinople 
friends ! ” 

And so, the avaricious old Parisian thanked God that 
the burly Addiscombe remained absent. 

But all was activity in the old Ardeche farmhouse, to 
which Laure Duvernay had cautiously been driven by 
night through the growing harvest fields. 

It was a land of milk and honey, this picturesque, 
volcanic, pastoral region ! 

Soames had been absent on an all-night recoft- 
naissance of the Chateau de Verneuil with the two de- 
tectives who had traced out Sir Raoul Hawtrey’s re- 
treat. 

With a prudence bom of fear, the stormv-hearted 
adventuress refused to talk to Addiscombe’s secret 
agents. 

“ Find out all they know ; don’t weary me t ” said 
Laure, as she laid her tired head to rest in the old 
farmhouse, while the detectives sought refuge in a 
neighboring cottage. 

With burning eyes and a wildly beating heart, Laure 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


257 


lay, now dreaming of a vengeance which should bring 
Raoul Hawtrey to her feet in a helpless bondage of 
shame. 

Outwitted, abandoned, and betrayed, she knew now 
from Soames hoW the younger brother had gone ruth- 
lessly to his goal, leaping across a murdered brother’s 
grave ! The quick-witted Frenchwoman easily divined 
the dead Julian’s ambitions ! 

To be a lord of finance, to marry Larue’s peerless 
daughter, and, to lord it in Sir Aubrey’s home at Con- 
bermere ! 

“ And I, poor fool, made the way easy for him by 
hurrying Sir Aubrey to his grave ! ” 

Her face hardened as she saw that Raoul had be- 
trayed her from the very first. 

“ I to take all the risks, and he, to reap the golden 
harvests ! Liar and traitor — meaner than murderer ! ” 
she voted him, in her raging heart. 

It was easy for the beautiful Frenchwoman to ex- 
tract the story of the arrival of the married lovers 
from old Pere Antoine, and Jeanne, his still robust 
wife. 

" No one knows who they are, ces nouveaux riches ” 
grumbled Jeanne. “ But the lady is as beautiful as a 
star; the gentleman a militaire, I should think. But 
the Verneuil estate has been guarded only by the stew- 
ard since the death of la belle marquise. The old Mar- 
quis (the last of his line) died many years ago! Ah, 
there was a man ! Ciel! ” 

“ Is the house open to visitors? ” asked Laure, whose 
lonely journey was explained by a search for an avail- 
able country house in the health-giving ranges of the 
Cevennes. 

“ Mais, non!” decidedly answered the .farmer’s wife. 
“ Not even the maire nor monsieur le cure goes there. 
They do say that the Prefet is coming to make a visit 
to these grand people ! They buy nothing of us ; the 
domain of Verneuil produces everything, and all their 
grand furnishing comes up from Marseilles.” 

Seated under a grape arbor, Laure Duvernay listened 
to the report of Soames, when the valet had returned 
from spying out the land. 

“ They are here,” said Soames, “ and have had but 


258 


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one visitor. Bremond, the confidential agent of Larue, 
arrived two days ago from England, and has been in 
dose conference with Sir Raoul Hawtrey. Our men 
here have corrupted a couple of the village workmen 
from San Felicien! There is a force of artisans now 
systematically retouching the whole interior. It looks 
as if Sir Raoul wduld make quite a stay. Evidently, 
he is acting under old Larue’s orders, and is carefully 
avoiding somebody ! ” 

“ I understand ! ” gloomily said Laure. No one but 
herself knew of the solemn oath which bound her guilty 
lover to her for life, the guilty compact broken even in 
its inception. And then a fierce thirst for vengeance 
entered into her fiery soul ! “ He shall pay — he shall 

pay!” she murmured. 

Reckless of herself now, for she knew that she could 
not be connected with the crowning crime, Laure Du- 
vernay had already decided 1 to spare Judith Larue! 

“ Only another woman’s heart .trodden under the brutal 
foot of man ! ” she muttered. “ No ! I shall punish 
only the guilty ! Soames is right ! Let him drag the 
chain of infamy and fear for all his life! I will drain 
him of his golden wealth ! He shall tremble to know 
that I am, viewlessly, at his side ! He will never know 
when I can break in upon the fool’s paradise of this 
beautiful bride ! He shall live to suffer ! ” 

She had listened to all of Soames’s recital without a 
word of comment, and, at last, the bulldog English- 
man, secure of his prey, faced her with the inevitable. 

.“ How shall we attack him? There are but three 
ways ! One is a visit ! He knows me ! He would at 
once take the alarm ! You, left alone with him, might 
be murdered by this crafty coward. To send to him 
might cause his instant flight! To write to him to 
come to you, might bring him to. your side, in the 
hope of pacifying you. And, here near you, I could 
protect you ! Listen : the road to Tournon passes here. 
Bremond will not bide long, for he evidently will be 
anxious to go back and report to his master, Larue. 
Sir Raoul will probably drive his guest over to the 
station at Tournon. I can have all the roads watched ! 
I will station these men to observe the departure of 
the guest. They are already in perfect league with 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


259 


their confederates, who lives in one of the servants 
wings of the old chateau. On his way back, a village 
lad can stop his carriage and hand him your letter. 
The only thin is — will he come? ” 

It was an open question ! 

The two plotters studied long over the composition 
of the letter which was to bring their prey to the farm- 
house. 

With a firm hand, Laure had dashed off the sum- 
mons : 

“ I am here awaiting you at Pere Antoine’s farm- 
house. I am alone. If you wish to prevent me telling 
the whole past to your bride, come to me at once ! Do 
not try evasion, for I will follow you, and then she 
alone, shall hear my story.” 

The signature “ Laure ” completed the menacing 
summons. 

“ That will do ! ” growled Soames. “ It will bring 
him on our ground ! You can hide me in your own 
room, and receive him in the adjoining chamber. I can 
hear all ! Be sure to speak to him only in English ! As 
for the others, they will be a reserve, hidden near! 1 
am well armed ! I am an old soldier, and I fear him 
not ! A revolver shot from the window will call in 
the London detectives at once.” 

“Good!” said Laure. “I fear him not, but you 
must hear his lying pleading. After that, we have 
him in our power ! It is the only way. Should he de- 
camp, then let the detectives follow him up at once, no 
matter where they go ! ” 

“ And so,” dubiously said Soames, “ we will go on 
direct to Paris, join this English lawyer, and you and 
I will then go to Sheffield and face Ambroise Larue ! 
That will bring the coward back, for cant and prudery 
is the English cloak to every shame! The old man 
shall know that I would spare his daughter ! And then 
Addiscombe, with his detectives, can chase Raoul to his 
final standstill ! He will fear me, held in this' reserve, 
and surrender ! So, if we do not make terms with him. 
we will, with this millionaire father and partner. All 
Europe shall ring with the shame ! For, as to my past, 
it is only his wordl against mine! I fear nothing as 
to Sir Aubrey’s last days! Dead men tell no tales, 


26 o 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


and I have locked up Doctor Richepin’s lips ! We 
French, a la longue, stand by each other! And you 
fear nothing? ” said the wondering Soames. 

“ I have no longer a heart to break ! ” resolutely said 
Laure. “ As ‘for him, the coward, he shall kneel at 
my feet ! ” 

“ Then be ready,” said Soames.- “ I will put the 
men at once out on the road ! We can not talk over 
plans much, after the battle begins ! *” 

While they were discoursing; two men were earnestly 
conferring in the library of the old chateau at San 
Felicien. Bremond, acute and self-controlled, was mak- 
ing his last notes in a memdrandum book, while Sir 
Raoul, anxious and disturbed, puffing his Syrian cigar- 
ette, only turned his head to glance out of the open 
window at his beautiful wife, moving below them, 
among the parterres , where the Provence roses were 
blooming. 

"It is absolutely incomprehensible,” said Bremond. 
“ I have sent my last cipher dispatch, and I must leave 
to-night. There is no one to inspect the machinery 
shipments but myself. The sudden disappearance of 
‘ Texas Dave ’ is a mystery. Here Larue telegraphs 
that the Cattle Company’s sub-manager has already left 
London for Liverpool to sail for New York! He evi- 
dently is in private touch with Dave Ross! The Ex- 
ecutive Committee of the Cattle Company are sullen 
and silent ! It would be useless for us to cable to Don 
Andres Armijo. And there are but two possible ex- 
planations of this mystery. Either the Rothschilds have 
obtained a money control of the whole interest of Ar- 
mijo and David Ross in the Cienfuegos, and are about 
making some private and secret investigations, or else 
‘ Texas Dave ’ has been led off by Addiscombe and 
the insurance people, and they propose to' make a scan- 
dal and hold out their joint opposition to your suc- 
cession to this title. Soames and Addiscombe have 
also disappeared ! Purvis, with the most liberal use 
of money, has not been able to locate any of the ab- 
sentees ! ” 

“You are right!” gloomily answered Sir Raoul. 
“ This brute Addiscombe evidently resents the loss of 
the management of the estates, and he now seeks a 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


26l 


money settlement, revenge upon Larue, and a vengeance 
upon me for my innocent good fortune! He well 
knows that any scandal would break Ambroise Larue’s 
heart ! And all these devils are sharpening their swords 
in the night ! What would you advise ? ” 

Bremond paused, gazing long at the quaintly carved 
ceiling of the old library. 

“ Keep Lady Hawtrey in ignorance as long as you 
can ! ” quietly answered Bremond. “ I will have to 
go West at once. Of ‘course, I will watch your inter- 
ests with Don Andres Armijo, Ralph Evans will aid 
me, and ‘Texas Dave’ must finally reappear! There 
can be no flaw in the papers and proceedings ! The 
control of the Cienfuegos is all right ! But, I would 
remain quietly here on guard until Larue summons 
you home. See no suspicious persons ! I will send 
you two private agents the moment I have reached 
Sheffield. Men selected from our own watchmen and 
detectives at the works.” 

“ In case of any trouble?” sullenly said Sir Raoul, 
who instinctively felt that his guest had not disclosed 
all of his forebodings. 

‘‘If it is merely an annoyance,” gravely said Bre- 
mond, “ find a good pretext, and return at once to 
Sheffield ! Nothing hurtful can reach you at ‘ The 
Priory.’ If it is anything serious, go up to Paris at 
once, place yourself tinder the protection of the British 
Embassy, telegraph to Sheffield for Larue, and say 
nothing till he arrives ! He will bring Lymington over 
with him ! I rather fancy that the Hawtrey succes- 
sion is the only possible ground for any family annoy- 
ance ! As to the mine, it is tied up in our hands ! 
And this quaint Texan may be indulging in some un- 
explained freak ! As for Addiscombe, he may be going 
backward over your youth to fortify himself in his 
legal quibbling ! ” 

"All right, Bremond!” said the anxious host. “I 
will follow your advice. I will telegraph daily in the 
cipher to Larue. And, remember, I shall follow out my 
orders. I will not leave here until I know that ‘ Texas 
Dave ’ has left Europe, unless Larue calls us home. 
As for any legal business, I will refer it all to Larue or 
Purvis. I will not write a letter or telegram to any 


• ' t^.'J >>xQ 

262 BROUGHT TO BAY. 

outsider! 'there is a mean scheme' somewhere, and 
what it is, I know not ! ” 

“ We ll not borrow trouble ! ” lightly said Bremond, 
as the butler entered, announcing the dejeuner, and 
Lady Hawtrey, her slender hands filled with lilies, ap- 
peared, a very dream of radiant happiness, in the other 
doorway. 

The splendid English thoroughbreds were champing 
their bits, harnessed to a light mail phaeton, before the 
merry party separated. Bremond, for the last time, 
walked around the terraces, gazing down at the sleeping 
valley of San Felicien, dreaming under the purpled 
Cevennes. 

The old chateau, proudly planted on its hills, shone 
out in the summer sun, the copper-roofed turrets shin- 
ing golden, the sculptured fagade gleaming demurely 
gray behind its mossy mullioned windows. 

The chestnut, olive, and fig trees hid the time-scarred 
rocks, where the archers had hidden in the old days 
when a De Verneuil had stoutly resisted Talbot’s bull- 
dog English. 

Chapel and porter’s lodge, the vast offices, and the 
great conservatories were all steeped in the languorous 
calm of the summer day. 

Bee and butterfly, the singing-bird, and the leaping 
waters made glad the calm hour, while the soft lowing 
of the contented herds alone broke the brooding silence. 

“ I only regret, Bremond,” said the handsome host, 
“ that you are not here to help us welcome Monsieur le 
Prefet du Department d’Ardeche and the energetic 
Sous-Prefet of the Arrondissement of San Felicien ! 
T shall not open the chateau, socially, until next year — 
in fact, I am only having the expert workmen discover 
the needs of repair and a very judicious restoration. 
Our neighbors, even now, are not aware of my 
seignorial rights ! But, when you come again, the old 
retreat shall shine in gayer plumage! ” 

“ Just the place for two pilgrims of love,” sighed 
Bremond. “ And may you long enjoy the paradise ! 
I must be off now to the flinty mesas of New Mexico 
and the pine-clad gorges of the Painted Mountains! 
We will all meet there later on this year, or else early 
next season,” said the bronzed engineer. “ Air. Larue 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


263 

wishes to make one family visit of inspection and com- 
plete the legal organization of the Directory in Amer- 
ica.” 

Sir Raoul’s face clouded. “ I never wish to climb 
those gloomy Sierras again ! ” he slowly said. And 
then, turning to his glowing bride, the husband asked : 

Will you ride'over to Tournon with us? 

1 I am completing my mental inventories of the old 
chateau," laughed Judith. “ Thanks to the grace of the 
t revolutionists, Chateau Verneuil was not sacked in the 
.fury of '93, and I have many treasure chambers yet 
to wander through." 

" Then I will see Bremond off, dine at Tournon, and 
drive home by . moonlight,” said Sir Raoul, as with a 
Courtly grace, Judith Hawtrey accompanied her guest 
to the great entrance where the arms of the De Ver- 
neuils hovered in tracery of stone over the hospitable 
portal. 

“ Tell my father," whispered Judith to Bremond, 
" that I am perfectly happy! There is nothing needed 
on earth to complete my delight but a sight of his dear, 
old face, and a breath of the air of our Yorkshire 
lanes ! ’’ 

Sir Raoul turned as they drove away to see the 
graceful figure of that gracious woman lingering there, 
her fluttering handkerchief the last signal of love. 

Neither of the men saw the hidden loungers who 
noted the passage of the two comrades, but as the 
equipage swept past the old farmhouse where old Pere 
Antoine was marshaling his bees, a woman’s face 
gleamed out for a moment at the upper window. 

“ C’est bien lui! ” cried Laure Duvernay, as she threw 
herself down, with a flood of bitter tears blinding her 
eyes ! 

“ And now, pour la rencontre! ” 

For, resolute and quick witted, Soames had reported 
the passing of the man who laughed, all unconscious 
of the dark web which was being woven closer, blacker, 
every moment, with stains of blood blotting out the 
vanished golden threads. 

“ It is a land of love and life, of memories, and of 
sip-hs, this dreamy old Languedoc,” mused Raoul Haw- 
trey, as he drove slowly home in the soft, summer 


264 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


night. His haunting fears were all now allayed by 
Bremond’s vigorous counsels, and he drank in the 
perfumed air thrown off in fragrant undulations from 
meadow and field, from wooded hill and sleeping copse. 

And his stormy heart, he swore in that silent hour, 
was now centred upon his noble and loyal wife ! “ She 
shall never learn to despise me ! Death first ! ” 

The very heart of nature seemed opened lovingly to 
the clinging stars hung above him in the soft blue, 
While the artist hand of nature touched with rich 
shadows the moor and fell, the glen, and the winding 
river bed, where the sweet voice of many waters fell 
upon the ear in delicious rhythm. 

His whole soul went out to the royal woman now 
awaiting him ; for far across the fruitful fields he could 
see the golden gleams in the chateau, where Judith 
Hawtrey, the lady of San Felicien, awaited her lover- 
husband. 

“ She shall reign here like a queen ! ” he murmured. 

“ Next year, there will be a happy band gathered around 
her, to share this earthly paradise ! ” 

Lifted up beyond his guilty past by her delicious 
companionship, the partner of her high-souled ambi- 
tions, strengthened in her glorious wifely enthusiasm, 
Raoul Hawtrey had all but forgotten the lurid scenes 
of his sin-stained life ! 

Only when Bremond had spoken of the Painted 
Mountains, a waft of memory had suddenly aroused 
all his coward fears. 

He saw once more the lonely hillside glen — that silent 
form lying there horribly prone, its arms helplessly 
spread out in the dull plunge of death ! 

He feared the spectral sight of that gray, ghastly 
face, and yet, he could watch once more the riderless 
horse careening madly down the wooded hillside slope. 

What was it that vanished over the rocky cliff with 
a horrible grating slide? 

Raoul Hawtrey shuddered as all his guilt came back 
to haunt him on this peaceful, summer night.! 

“ She must never know ! ” he murmured. “ For, she 
has made me the hero-husband of her stainless heart ! ” 

A sudden exclamation from the French groom caused 
him to pull up the startled horses. 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 265 

Before him, in the road, stood a lad, bareheaded, and 
clad in a peasant’s blouse. 

Thrusting a crumpled letter into Sir Raoul’s hand, 
the boy mumbled ; “ She is waiting for you, over there, 
at Pere Antoine’s,” 

And then Sir Raoul Hawtrey, turning his head, saw 
a red gleam of light in the upper windows of the old 
farmhouse. 

With a sickening dread, he descended and, lighting a 
match, read the hurried scrawl. 

A mad impulse seized him ! To leap back into the 
carriage, to dash wildly by, and reach the haven of the 
old chateau ! Or, should he turn his horses’ heads, and 
drive to far-away Tournon ! There was the railway — 
a few hours would place him in safety in Paris ! And 
there was always his old resource — lying, skillful lying ! 
He could even telegraph to his Wife to join him ! And 
then the wide world lay before him ! 

But, the blood quickly came back to his heart ! 

“ For Judith’s sake ! ” he murmured, as he quietly 
drove the team up to the farmhouse gate. 

The shock-headed boy stood at the stone wall, sul- 
lenly awaiting him, and then with a brief order to his 
groom, Sir Raoul resolutely strode up the little herb 
garden. 

Pointing to a narrow stairway, the boy said, “ Up 
there ! ” fleeing away in a sudden terror. 

As the desperate man mounted the narrow stair his 
temples throbbed with a sudden rage! 

Here, at the very gates of his tranquil paradise, was 
the evil genius of his past life, challenging him now 
like a specter risen from the grave. 

A sentiment of sudden disgust possessed him! He 
saw his old loathsome self! The vile plotter of a 
dying man’s moral murder — the associate of one who 
had been steeped in the dregs of every pleasurable 
vice ! 

Pushing open the door whence a gleam of light lit 
the dark hall, he started back as Laure Duvernav slowly 
turned and faced him ! 

Clad in a clinging robe of white, she seemed almost 
unearthly as her eyes sought his own in an imploring 
glance. 


266 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


‘ You — what do you here?’' he roughly said, pushi- 
ng aside her outspread arms ! For the woman, faith- 
less to all, was, even now, faithful to the reawakened 
passion of the bygone years. 

“ To see you but once more, Raoul ! ” pleaded Laure 
Duvernay, forgetting her hidden auditor. “ You left 
me without a single word, and — after all these years ! ” 
“ And you,” roughly cried Sir Raoul, “ you threw 
yourself into Furstenberg’s arms ! On se console vite- 
ment! ” 

Laure Duvernay had been sitting before him, her 
face covered with her hands. She now bounded up 
like a tigress ! > 

“ You scelcrat! Infame! You made me risk my 
life for you! You left me behind to do your bidding! 
To make the pathway smooth for you ! Do you re- 
member your oath ? A life for a life ! ” 

“ What would you have? ” growled Sir Raoul, start- 
ing back. “You robbed your dying English lover! 
You are pillaging this Austrian fool now ! Harken ! I 
am the lord of San Felicien! Dare but to waylay me 
again ! Dare to even darken my doors 1 Dare to ap- 
proach my wife! And I will have the gendarmerie 
strip you of your borrowed plumes, and drag you away 
to the bagnes! You came from the gutter, and you 
shall end — in the galleys ! ” 

He started back as an awful pallor made her face 
gleam like that of a living corpse. 

“Fool!” she said in a low, hoarse whisper. “I 
would have spared this sweet woman whom you have 
taken to your bosom ! I would have struck, alone, at 
you ! Now I will spare neither ! Begone, coward and 
fool ! You shall pay — yes, to the uttermost farthing ! ” 
With a muttered imprecation, Raoul Hawtrey stum- 
bled down the stairway, for the enraged woman had 
thrown the door shut, in his very face ! He was driving 
madly along the road toward the chateau before he 
realized the fatal consequences of his brutal outburst. 

Once he stopped and turned his horses irresolutely, 
but then, his trembling hands dropped the reins. 

With a smothered groan, he gathered them up, and 
in a stupor of dejection, regained the old chateau. 

But no sooner had the rattling wheels proclaimed 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


267 

Sir Raoul’s departure than Laure Duvernay tore open 
the half-closed door to the sleeping chamber where the 
astonished Soames stood ready, pistol in hand. 

"Quick, quick!” she gasped. "The horses! Get 
me over to TournOn! Drive like the wind! There are 
trains to Paris! And noiv Addiscombe shall know all! 
You shall see me place my foot upon this brute’s neck ! ” 

Ten minutes later, the caleche dashed furiously away, 
after Soames had whispered his orders to the cooler of 
the two detectives. 

“ Let Rawlins come along with me ! ” said Soames. 
“ This fool will be back prowling around here by day- 
light! I’ll send the caleche back to-morrow! Rawlins 
will come home in another vehicle, so that we can not 
be traced ! Remember ! Cling to him ! Follow him to 
the North Pole! Telegraph Addiscombe everything! 
If I mistake not, we will all be back here very soon! 
This fellow has dug his own grave ! ” 

Old Jeanne, standing in the door, with her hand filled 
with gold pieces, muttered : “ Silence? Yes, I will keep 
silence! ” For the woman with the burning eyes had 
whispered in the old peasant’s ear her parting message. 

Fast over the flinty road sped the flying horses, with 
Laure Duvernay leaning forward and urging Soames 
on ! 

There was but five minutes left at Tournon for 
Soames to purchase the tickets, while Rawlins sent the 
dispatch which made Addiscombe spring up in a vic- 
torious shout at Paris ! 

Locked in a compartment en premier, Laure Duver- 
nay lay that night watching the flying landscape, and 
when she descended the next evening at Paris, the 
stony faced woman was the mere wraith of the dashing- 
beauty who had defied Addiscombe at Ischl, in the far- 
away Tyrol. 

Soames took him aside. 

But. the stolid Englishman laughed grimly as 

“ She’s in a mortal desperate way, sir ! ” cried the 
valet. “ She has neither eaten nor drunk since we 
left Tournon ! And she will go to her hiding-place, 
the Hotel de l’Aigle, at Suresnes! Better bring the 
Texan gent right over there, and she’ll make a clean 
breast of the whole thing ! It’s a fortune for you and 


268 BROUGHT TO BAY. 

I, anyway, and, if you are in for your revenge, why, 
she’s the lady to dish it up to you, hot and hot. Now 
get ‘ Texas Dave ’ over there with you ! I’ll go with her 
and keep her humor up ! You’ll have to act quickly, or 
you’ll find your bird has flowrt ! ” 

“ Not at all ! ” said the excited Addiscombe. “ I’ve 
had four dispatches from Rawlins and Stover down 
there ! This fellow Hawtrey is a cowardly fool — that’s 
all ! He’s been mooning around the old farmhouse, 
trying to get a peep at her ! He believes that she is 
hidden there somewhere ! ” 

“Take my advice, sir!” growled Soames. “You 
don’t know when a woman’s mind will change ! This 
one’s an out and outer, and she was regularly fond of 
the beggar ! But he’s a cur, as well as a coward, that 
chap ! ” 

Ten minutes after the flyer of the “ Paris, Lyon, et 
Mediterranee” had reached Paris, Soames and the Con- 
tesse Duvernay were seated in the train for Suresnes- 
Longchamps. 

On arrival at the Hotel de l’Aigle, the astounded 
head waiter showed “ Madame ” to her favorite apart- 
ments. 

“ Come to me the very moment that they arrive! ” 
said Laure, her eyes flashing in an ungovernable fury. 

By some indefinable womanly impulse, she had for- 
tified herself in the stronghold of her happiest days to 
fight the last battle for her unsated vengeance. 

“ Here! ” she cried, stamping her foot in a hysteric 
rage. “ Here, I want to see them, all here ! ” 

“Is he poming later?” hazarded Henri, as he sent 
the women in to minister to the excited woman. 

“ I don’t think that he will ! ” muttered the philo- 
sophic valet, who now gloated over his assured for- 
tunes. “ It’s no case of heads and tails, now ! ” muttered 
Soames. “ An’ the blasted fool could have pacified her 
easily with a little lover’s jargon! ” 

Far away, at San Felicien, Raoul Hawtrey was 
pacing the terrace of the old chateau, in an agony of 
indecision. 

Judith Hawtrey sat alone, and in tears for the first 
time since their love pilgrimage had begun. 

Up at dawn, after a moody and restless night, the 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


269 


tortured man had galloped down to the farmhouse, 
under pretext of having lost his pocketbook upon the 
road. 

Early as he was, the keen-eyed detectives were astir, 
and the handsome rider never saw Rawlins lurking in 
his path, nor Stover hiding in the cattle-yard, as he 
dashed up. 

A half-hour’s battle with Pere Antoine’s peasant cun- 
ning and Mere Jeanne’s assumed stolidity proved to 
the startled man his absolute defeat ! 

“ The strange woman had gone away ! ” This was 
the sole reward of his questioning, and as to direction, 
“ why, to Lamastre, by post.” 

This was the meager harvest. And both the crafty 
peasants pocked his napoleons and blinked at him with 
sullen eyes. 

“ The other one paid better,” murmured Mere Tornon. 
“ We will get more by arid by ! ” 

Sir Raoul Hawtrey rode slowly back homeward, and 
then began his useless fight tQ deceive the woman who 
saw the “ little cloud no bigger than a man’s hand.” 

“ Laure is a devil,” moodily mused Sir Raoul, as he 
walked the terrace. “ And, of course, this castaway 
will now write to Judith ! Fool that I did .not think of 
offering her money ! She might have been silenced ! ” 

And now his paper defenses all went down before 
the haunting fear of the blow which should bring his 
castle in Spain shattered around *his feet. 

" Tied here, I dare not move! No one to advise me, 
no means of communicating with Larue, if anything 
happens, I am defenseless.” 

And in his agony of unrest, he cursed the memory of 
that woman whose head had lain so often on his breast ! 

“ Damn her ! I should have lured her quietly away ! ” 
he fiercely muttered. “ I should have spoken her fair! 
There are whirlpools in the river ! Down there, in the 
black water, she would have held her lying tongue ! ” 

Then, with a gnawing fear, which ate into his heart, 
he rejoined his wife to find that the shadow of the dark 
past had fallen across his threshold. 

“Take me home to England,” sobbed his wife. “Take 
me away ! ” 

With a woman’s divination of danger, Judith Haw- 


270 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


trey clung to her husband, who, in an agony of tender- 
ness, calmed all her fears. 

“ It shall be as you will, my own darling! ” he mur- 
mured. 

“ When the Prefet has made his visit, we will turn 
back to England. You are sirpply lonely and unnerved.” 
And then, with a fond eagerness, he kissed all her tears 
away. 

But, late that night, Raoul Hawtrey lingered over 
some fancied correspondence, while secretly pondering 
upon his course. “ Ah ! If I had only Lischen Heffner’s 
ready wit at hand to aid me ! She would have followed 
this fiend and trapped her, for me ! But, it is too late 
now! Duprat!” He thought of Duprat. “Perhaps 
the old man could see this enraged cormorant and buy 
his silence ! ” With a groan, he dismissed the mad 
project. “ She has left no trace! Has she gone back 
to Furstenberg’s protection? She will choose her own 
time to strike ! For, she said she w r ould spare neither ! ” 

In a frenzy of unrest,- Raoul HaWtrey stole out into 
the gardens ! The first path led him to where, through 
the grated doors of the family mausoleum, he could see 
his mother’s marble tomb, gleaming cold and ghastly 
beside the memorial of the dead Marquis. 

“ It was for you I struck ! ” he cried, in a sudden 
access of terror ; and then, hastened back to hide him- 
self in the halo of his noble wife’s womanly innocence ! 

“ She shall never know ! ” he swore, as he gazed down 
that night upon her sleeping face. 

Even while he spoke, far away in Paris, with an un- 
thinking access of fate defying jealousy, Laure Duver- 
nay poured out to “ Texas Dave ” and Addiscombe the 
whole story of Raoul Hawtrey’s desperate campaign 
to reach the place of the dead Sir Aubrey ! 

Self-forgetting, she unveiled their whole guilty past, 
and as the two men listened their faces grew ashen in 
the conviction of a cowardly deed. 

Soames, listening at the door, entered quietly when 
Laure Duvemay had gone away to pace the floor and 
wring her hands in all the thirsty fury of the unre- 
venged. 

“How to strike him down?” echoed Addiscombe. 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


271 


“ Don’t follow that lip ! I’ll strike him down soon 
enough ! ” 

And then the frenzied woman laughed an awful laugh 
and fled away, tortured by the memories of the days 
when she had believed Raoul Hawtrey faithful to her 
, in sin ! 

■ It is time for you to act now, Mr. Ross,” gravely 
said' the lawyer. "“You,, see that this man went out 
there with the avowed plan of secretly slaying Julian, 
but, only after the unhappy devil had fallen into the 
title. In this way he obtained, not only his brother’s 
title and home estate, but, also, the vast future interests 
in the mine ! ” 

“ Two things bear against that !” stoutly said “Texas 
Dave.” “ The one is that this here Mont Brun, as he 
calls himself, could not have privately known of Sir 
Aubrey’s, death. The news came after Julian was 
killed ! Second, that he, Raoul, as you call him, went 
down the ridge, and not up, on the morning of the 
murder, and he was there with the workmen when 
the Indians attacked the lower camp.” 

“ Listen to me ! ” sharply .said Soames, and the two 
men started, as the valet towered over them. “ I loved 
my dead master, and I swore to find out his murderer, 
if it could be done! Now, I know that the man we 
are hounding now, spent his evenings with the old 
French jeweler at Caliente. This woman Laure has 
told me privately that she cabled the fact of Aubrey’s 
death to old Franqois Duval. I found also that old 
Duval had sent a private message over to Coyote to 
the woman who was Raoul’s mistress, even while her 
own drunken husband was dying. She sent a Mex- 
ican boy over to the mine with the message for Raoul, 
and the poor dupe was waylaid and killed going 
back ! And Raoul took that woman away with him, 
and they traveled on to New York, together!” The 
two listeners were now trembling with excitement. 
“ The same fellow who took care of this Mexican boy’s 
horse at the mine was out hunting some stray mules 
on the west side of the range the morning that Julian 
was killed. And he saw Raoul ride along northward, 
under cover of the range, on the west side, just after 
breakfast, and also ride rapidly back the same way 


272 


brought to bay. 


two hours later! Why would he hide himself that 
way when he could have ridden along the ridge? And 
I can produce this man, and name him to Ralph Evans ! 
Fear alone kept him silent 1 ” 

“ Texas Dave” had been shaking like a leaf, while 
Soames, boldly facing them, told his story. 

“ I went to the telegraph office at Calierue and got 
a copy of the dispatch which was sent to Franqois 
Duval. Right here. in Paris, you can get the original 
of that dispatch. It is dated a week before Julian’s 
death, and you remember, Mr. Addiscombe, the news 
did not reach England for some days. It was delayed 
for this purpose. Right in there, is that woman ! Rich- 
epin, the doctor, can prove this, and, if you face her 
with it, she will own that she sent the dispatch to Raoul 
Hawtrey. Here it is ! ” And Soames read out the 
fateful words : 

“ ‘ My brother died yesterday. A week for news to 
reach England. Notify and answer. The doctor is in 
charge.’ 

v And,” said Soames, “ the cipher word “ Napoleon ’ 
was a secret signal ! It was signed ‘ Jacques.’ ” 

“ Give that to me ! ” hoarsely cried Addiscombe. 

“ Not so ! ” sturdily said Soames. ” Only after you 
and I have agreed upon our plan of action. You must 
not force this love-crazed woman to despair! Don't 
threaten her ! She will kill herself, in a moment, if she 
has to stand any more brutality ! He’s a damned cool 
villain ! This poor girl has only been his dupe and 
tool ! ” 

While the two Englishmen went away into a private 
room. “ Texas Dave ” staggered to his feet. 

“ I’ve been blind ! ” he muttered. “ All the boys told 
me that Julian never rode down the road to the freight 
camp that morning. No ! This sly devil made a private 
arrangement up there with the poor fellow ! If he did 
know of the death of this here Sir Aubrey, then he just 
laid for his brother and killed him ! He decoyed him 
out there, and killed him like a dirty coyote !” 

Addiscombe felt himself master of the situation when 
he returned after half an hour’s absence. Soames and 
the lawyer had effected a partnership in interest, which 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


273 


promised to the one the coveted money, to the other the 
long-desired revenge on Ambroise Larue. 

“ A square division, and complete protection for this 
woman ! ” was Soames’s ultimatum. 

“ I will get Larue, Sir Raoul Hawtrey, and, per- 
haps, this Texan later in the net,” mused Addiscombe. 

But he soon saw that some strange revolution had 
occurred in the cowboy’s mind ! 

“ Go and get out your papers, Squire Addiscombe,” 
fiercely .said “ Texas Dave.” " Give me but ten min- 
utes alone with him ! I’ll deal the game out to you 
square! If he can not explain one fatal thing to me. 
I'll give the whole business away. And, if I do, it will 
hang him higher than a kite! But, he shall have a 
square deal ! Fetch me face to face with him ! ” 

“ The sooner the better,” was Addiscombe’s reply. 
“ I’ll leave Soames here, in charge of this strange 
woman ! ” 

A week later, there was a splendid circle gathered 
upon the terrace at sunset, when the old Chateau de 
Verneuil was bathed in the glories of the dying day. 

“ It is one of the most superb places in Languedoc,” 
said the Prefet, bowing low to Lady Hawtrey. “ And 
you have everything in life to live for, Monsieur le 
Marquis! ” 


CHAPTER XV. 

UNBIDDEN GUESTS “ IMPORTANT BUSINESS ” — THE 

MUTE WITNESSES THE CURSE OF CAIN — ‘‘ONE 

MOMENT TO SAY FAREWELL ” — 

.BROUGHT TO BAY ! 

Walter Addiscombe sat alone in his room, at the little 
hotel on the heights of Montmartre, on the sunny July 
morning which followed the departure of the Prefet 
from the Chateau de Verneuil. His mind was far 
away from gay Paris, seething below him. 

Baffled and disconcerted, he was now only awaiting a 
danger signal from San Felicien. 

For his utmost efforts had failed to draw that un- 


274 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


willing judge, “ Texas Dave,” further within his 
clutches ! 

Soames, at the Hotel de l’Aigle, was still in charge 
of the restless Comtesse Laure Duvernay, who had 
easily explained her absence from Ischl, by “ the sudden 
illness of a dear relative.” 

The strange woman had now relapsed into a sullen 
silence, her feline nature being exhausted by the out- 
burst of passion which had led her to disclose all of 
Raoul Hawtrey’s intended villainy. 

And now, with the world-wise valet as her secret 
coadjutor, she craftily held Addiscombe at bay, stub- 
bornly refusing to go to the English Embassy and 
make a legal deposition as to Raoul Hawtrey’s plot. 

“ You have dragged me away from my villa at Ischl ; 
you have threatened me with Doctor Richepin’s dis- 
closures ! Let him tell all that he knows ! I do not 
fear him, nor you, nor the law ! And it is for you 
to bring this man Hawtrey to bay! If you can not 
prove that he did the crime, then, I am not in your 
power ! ” 

Cajolery, threats, attempted bribery, all an old law- 
yer’s arts, had failed to move the adventuress from her 
smoldering inertia of rage. 

And so, after a long and diplomatic interview with 
Doctor Richepin, Addiscombe felt that he was in the 
hands of “ Texas Dave,” that queer compound of sim- 
plicity and cunning! 

For the wary Frenchman had doubled on his own 
trail ! “ I told you, Monsieur,” said the Doctor, “ that 
I would tell you all that T knew ! Read my card to 
Madame Laure Duvernay ! It says only that you know 
all ! Enfin, nous sommes ches nous , ici, nous autres 
Francois! If you wish to know more, here is the card 
of my avocat, Maitre Georges Dumain ! He will know 
both how to answer you and also how to protect me! 
L’incident est t ermine” 

At the most, Walter Addiscombe had persuaded la 
Comtesse Duvernay to remain another week at Suresnes, 
with the perfect liberty to go and arrange the affairs of 
her villa under the escort of the sly Soames, who had 
fooled his dupe, Addiscombe, to the top of his bent ! 

For, even this astute investigator was valueless to 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


275 


the resentful lawyer unless his relation of the crime was 
verified in America, and the valet now sternly refused 
to give the name of the eyewitness of Raoul’s surrep- 
titious visit to the north ridge on the fatal morning of 
Sir Julian’s death'! 

" After another week, I will reclaim the right to 
peacefully depart for Ischl!” said Laure Duvernay. 

And, if you think that Furstenberg will not protect 
me, try him!” 

Addiscombe acknowledged himself defeated when the 
morose woman said : “ I have arranged with le Docteur 
Richepin to use the Villa Duvernay as a sanitarium, for 
the rest of my paid lease ! I shall remove all my mov- 
ables, and quit France forever, if I am annoyed by you 
or anyone from over the Channel ! ” 

Addiseombe tried to hide his dejection after con- 
ferring with the counselor of the English Embassy. 

“ Sir Aubrey Hawtrey’s estate? Ah, yes! ” yawned 
that holder of a sinecure. “ Well, he surely gave the 
woman the furniture and the lease all right enough — 
her papers show all that ! As for his jewels, money, and 
the usual pillage — gifts inter vivos, you know ! The 
woman was there at his beck and call, by his wish 
and will, and he was free to make ducks and drakes 
of his own ! Besides, you have no evidence ! As a rule, 
dead men are somewhat reticent zvith regard to their 
personal affairs, and, even singularly careless of mat- 
ters of general interest ! No, my friend ! Give it up 
as a bad job ! No one ever gets anything back from 
a French lorette! It is the unattainable! ” 

When, on this sunny July morning, Addiscombe read 
the telegram from Rawlins and Stover, “ Breaking up 
to go back to England ; send orders, or come at once,” 
the lawyer uttered a significant oath ! 

“ By God ! I wonder if the whole three are playing 
a game together — Larue, Hawtrey, and this Texan 
mule? I will have my revenge if I have to spend my 
last shilling ! ” 

Roused to action, he sent his man Howgate to in- 
form Soames confidentially of the new move. “ Let 
the lady go back to Ischl freely ! I would like you to 
go with her, and stay in her service, if agreeable. Will 


276 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


send Howgate with the news to you at Ischl! I am 
leaving Paris with ‘ Texas Dave.’ ” 

“ This will prevent Madame la Comtesse from warn- 
ing Sir Raoul Hawtrey,” said Addiscombe, as he sur- 
veyed the field for the last time. “ For, woman-like, 
her forgiveness may hastily follow on this summer 
storm of passionate rain ! After all, he is rich, young, 
handsome, and he may fall back later, into her clutches. 
She, at least, has ‘ a contingent remainder ’ upon his 
affections ! Now for the crucial test ! ” 

The lawyer sought “ Texas Dave,” sulking in his 
rooms, where that redoubtable frontiersman was finish- 
ing a letter to Mrs. Hannah Maverick Ross, Caliente, 
New Mexico. 

“ See here,” moodily remarked Ross, “ I have just 
written to my wife that I sail in one week from Havre, 
and I have just telegraphed the same to Don Andres 
Armijo.” 

The lawyer keenly eyed “ Texas Dave ” from under 
his shaggy eyebrows. 

“ I fancy that will change your mind!” he quietly 
said, laying down the telegram. “ Sir Raoul Hawtrey 
is at last tired of honeymooning it, and he is packing 
to return to England ! Will you not go over and see 
Larue ? ” 

“ No, sir! ” flatly said “ Texas Dave.” “ If you will 
take me to this man, I’ll face him fair ; but, I will not 
set foot on English soil again, until Larue has erected 
the works and kept his contract ! ” 

“Your money interests will suffer!” persuasively 
said Addiscombe. 

“You think so!” bluntly replied Dave. “ Well , I 
guess not! Firstly, Don Andres Armijo will advance 
me all the money I want, without any interest, and with 
no security! Secondly, the Rothschilds will buy my 
quarter (in the rough) of the two mines as now con- 
solidated on the basis of what capital Larue puts in 
as paid up, and a fair valuation of my interest made 
by a man named by me, by their own expert, and a 
third, to be selected by Larue and Armijo ! You see, 
old Don Andres sent them the whole facts, and I 
showed them the working, returns of the five hundred 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


277 


dollars and not leave this room ! I’ve got all the money 
I want for life, right in sight! And, moreover, Amer- 
ica’s good enough for me! ” 

‘ You will not go and swear to the facts of the 
death of Julian Hawtrey before the American and Eng- 
lish Embassies?” said Addiscombe. “ Remember that 
you may be called in question as to this mysterious 
death ! ” 

“ I’ve given you my last answer on that ! ” said the 
Texan, with a deadly, steellike glitter in his gray-blue 
eyes. “ And, hark ye, Mr. Lawyer, if you connect me 
with killing Julian Hawtrey here — if you dare to breathe 
my name in that way — I’ll blow your brains out on the 
spot! If you lie about me, after I go back to America, 
then I’ll come back and do it, so help me God! And, 
in my own country, I’ll face any man, from the Presi- 
dent to a stage robber ! ” 

" Then, go down with me now and see Hawtrey! ” 
sullenly said Addiscombe. “ I will take the next 
train ! ” 

“ I’m your man ! ’’ cried “ Texas Dave.” “ Look 
you ! Send all my stuff over to Havre to the Com- 
pagnie Transatlantique. I’ve got my passage for a 
week from to-day ! ” 

“ Very good ! ” gruffly said Addiscombe. “ I’ll set- 
tle our whole business here ! ” 

“ All right! ” coolly said Dave, as he closed Hannah 
Maverick’s letter. 

All that day and until the next evening, the English 
man faced “ Texas Dave ” in the train, pondering upon 
the strange entanglement of the Hawtrey succession. 
“ There is craft, as well as boldness, in this matter,” 
said the resentful solicitor to himself. “ Here Hawtrey 
openly goes back to England, and in the face of all 
the suspicious circumstances!' He’s a cool hand, and 
he evidently wants old Larue near him if Madame Du- 
verray shows up the past! After all, he was a single 
man then — a bon vivant — only a free lance! Time will 
repair all the damage he has caused to the elastic heart 
of the beautiful Laure ! She already has another lover ! 
And ‘ Texas Dave ’ — he has been inside their whole 
lives from the very first— a pretty good financier for an 
ignorant cowboy! If these two men stand fast, true 


2 7 8 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


to each other, there is nothing to break their league. 
And — curse him — old Larue has never been in Amer- 
ica ! There is nothing to connect him with either of 
them in any hidden crime ! He seems to have bought 
his way in fairly enough ! And, for Judith’s sake, this 
French-Englishman will swear the old man clear!” 

The grave composure of the Texan never varied as 
the train arrived at Tournon, and then Addiscombe, in 
the gloaming, conferred long with his two waiting de- 
tectives. 

“ Nothing new to report,” said Stover, “ but that a 
great firm of Paris decorators has sent an agent down 
here, who will remain at the chateau and superintend 
all the repairs and restorations for the return of the 
Marquis next year! All the local nobility here have 
called upon Sir Raoul since the Prefet’s official visit, 
and it seems that he has a French title going with this 
estate which comes from his mother.” 

“What’s your plan?” calmly said “Texas Dave,” 
as the three men moved along at his side to where a 
covered char a banc was in waiting, in hiding. 

“ I will think it over ! ” cautiously answered Addis- 
combe, as they dashed away into the leafy, summer 
lanes. 

An hour later, the four men descended at Pere An- 
toine’s farmhouse. 

“ We will send the two men up to watch over the 
chateau,” said Addiscombe. “ And, one of them can 
bring us word of any sudden move to-night. In 
the morning, you and I can go up and face Sir Raoul 
together ! That’s my plan ! ” 

“ How far is it from here? ” said the Texan, grimly. 

“ A half-hour’s drive ! ” said Stover. 

“ And they will surely not leave before to-morrow 
evening! They have ordered tickets for the through 
train, to-morrow night ! ” said Rawlins. 

“ Keep the wagon, then ! ” quietly said David Ross. 
“ I'll drive over, alone, to-night ! ” 

“ That’s not my idea,” said Addiscombe. “ You owe 
something to me in this campaign ! ” 

“ I owe you nothing,” said Ross, sternly. “ We part 
company here! If I’ve anything to tell you, I will 
come back here! If not, I’ll drive back alone to the 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


279 


station ! And you can carry on your coyote sneak- 
game around this man’s house as much as you want 
to! I'll find him out, and face him like a man! ” 

At the wagon, “ Texas Dave ” threw off Addis- 
combe’s detaining’ hand. 

‘ I’ll make no mistake! ” he fiercely said. “ And, it 
you make one now, it will be the mistake of your life! ” 

The three men were left gazing at each other as 
the light wagon rattled away. 

" After him — after him! ” hoarsely cried the enraged 
lawyer. “ We will find both the birds flown in the 
morning ! ” 

Stover quickly mounted Pere Antoine’s fat cart-nag, 
and trotted briskly away, while Rawlins reported to 
his master his rendezvous with the village workmen, in 
the temporary shop now erected near the chateau, for 
the extensive renovations. 

“ One of you must remain on watch to notify me here ! 
If they leave to-night, let the other follow on! For 1 
will soon be at their heels ! ” 

In an agony of cowardly doubt, Walter Addiscombe 
waited until the midnight hour for news, and then, 
tired out, fell asleep in his chair, seated in the lonely 
chamber where Laure Duvernay had pronounced the 
doom of her lover! But, the grim game for life and 
death went on without him, as he dreamed of booty 
and revenge ! 

It was nearly ten o’clock when Sir Raoul Hawtrey 
laid down his pen, in the lonely library, and glanced 
wearily at the last page of his instructions to Monsieur 
Germain, the restorer of the old chateau. 

Busied with her two English maids, Lady Judith, 
happy-hearted, was watching their hurried preparations 
for the happy home-coming. 

“ It will be a surprise to your father, my darling! ” 
said Sir Raoul. “ I have neitfier written nor tele- 
graphed, for I wish the Lady, of ‘ The Priory ’ only to 
bide quiet in her home until I can arrange for Queen 
Judith’s entree to Combermere! No one knows of our 
return but Purvis, and he can be trusted ! The gentle 
old fellow is already busied with his own arrange- 
ments.” 

Brooding over her sudden happiness, Judith Haw- 


280 brought to bay. 

trey sat silently dreaming of the kind and fatherly face 
awaiting her — the stern old man who now walked the 
halls of u The Priory,” hungering for a sight of one 
dear, beloved face. 

The hush of the summer night lingered upon the 
happy earth ; the silver stars gleamed down upon the 
purpled mountains, and twinkled in the darkened -pools 
of the cool, flowing river. 

From the gardens below, the “woodbine spices wafted 
abroad,” and “ the musk of the roses, blown,” lulled the 
lonely writer with their penetrating fragrance. 

Pale, and with an expectant longing for the departure 
gnawing at his heart, Raoul Hawtrey had lifted his 
head only when the voices of the old chateau spoke 
out in the silent night. 

He had suffered all the agonies of a hell on earth 
since Laure Duvernay’s disappearance! When, how, 
would she strike ? 

And, his nerves shaken by the continued repression, 
it now seemed as if he could hear the gliding of ghostly 
feet, the whispers of long-silent lips, in the deserted 
corridors ! 

Shadowy faces seemed to peer out upon him from 
the darkened corners, and once — yes, once — a painted 
face moved under his tremulous gaze ! The truncheon 
in the hand of the old Connetable de Verneuil had 
waved him on to some far, mysterious bourne. He had 
lost his old-time courage; his ready wit failed him. 
He was defenseless and at Laure’s mercy! Suddenly, 
the blood left his heart in a refluent torrent, as the rude 
clash of wheels, pausing under his window, aroused 
him ! 

Leaping to the opened casement, he gazed out upon 
the terrace ! He started back as an alert form glided 
from the gloom into the half-darkened library. 

Only a student-lamp and a glimmering branched 
candlestick lit up the great library ! Sir Raoul could 
not see “ Texas Dave’s ” face, for the orange glow fell 
only upon the scattered papers. But, he knew that the 
curse of Cain had come upon him at last ! 

“You — you!” stammered Raoul, his lips strangely 
dry, as he stood there without a word of spoken wel- 
come. An awful calmness possessed him, for he saw 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


281 


the iron gates closing upon him ! It was settling time 
now ! 

“ I have come three hundred miles to see you, Mont 
Brun,” said Ross, his voice sounding hollow and far 
away. 

Sir RaOul glanced at the door, and the steady,, gray 
eyes followed him. 

“ It lies between us, as man and man,” slowly said 
the Texan, as he dropped his tired head between his 
hands. " Between us,” he groaned, “ and — a dead 
man! ” 

“ Speak out ! ” cried Raoul, seizing the frontiers- 
man’s right wrist in a grasp of iron. But, the unre- 
sisting Texan only gazed at him with his haggard, un- 
flinching eyes ! 

“ They’re dogging you down now, Mont Brun,’ 1 the 
cowboy solemnly replied, speaking in a strange, muf- 
fled monotone. “ If you’re in trouble, you might have 
trusted me — your pardner! There’s that damned Lon- 
don lawyer and his two detectives over here, hiding 
at a little farmhouse! ” “ Texas Dave’s ” pitying eyes 
followed the wretched man, who staggered back, gasp- 
ing for breath! “ I’m in for a square deal, every time ! ” 
the intruder hoarsely whispered ! “ And, I swear on the 
Bible to give you a fair show ! When I quit you to- 
night, you can fight your own game out ! Here’s what 
I’ve got to show you! Your brother, Julian Hawtrey, 
was killed with these two revolver bullets ! ” 

And the lithe Texan sprang back, opening his closed 
hand ! There lay the mute witnesses of the cowardly 
murder, and a reflected gleam from the table cast a 
bloody glow upon the face of the wretched man — the 
crimson brand of Cain. Hell yawned before the mur- 
derer ! 

“ Judith ! ” he whispered. “ She must not know! ” 

“ There was but two of them pistols ever made in the 
whole world ! ” hoarsely muttered Ross, his eyes now 
fixed appealingly upon "the startled murderer. “ When 
they were fired, you gained a title, a million dollars, 
and, you got your high-born wife! ” 

Sir Raoul Hawtrey ’b face changed in a frightful con- 
vulsion as the clang of a silver bell echoed in the 
corridor above! Queen Judith was summoning her 


282 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


maids around her ! There was a solemn appeal in that 
sound to his* awakened heart ! “ She must never 

know!” he muttered. 

“ Do you remember,” said “ Texas Dave,” “ that Cap- 
tain Julian gave me his own pistol ; you know that you 
carried the other one! Either you or I killed him! 
Say, tell me,” entreated the Texan, “ was it in fair 
fight? Did he attack you? That English lawyer will 
have the truth ! ” 

“ What does he know? ” mechanically said Sir Raoul, 
his eyes still fixed upon the horrible mute betrayers of 
his crime. 

“Nothing! ” sadly said Dave, dropping into a chair. 
“ Only that I was off the range, and that the doctors 
found these two bullets in the body ! They’ve got them 
marked, weighed, and identified! We’ve got to face 
this thing out ! ” 

“ Where is this man now?” cried the tortured hus- 
band, driven to bay at last. 

“ Over there — he’ll be up here to-morrow — and I’ve 
come to give you a fair show ! ” 

“ Wait, wait ! ” cried the Marquis de Verneuil. “ i’ll 
go with you and face him — now — to-night ! Just one 
moment to say farewell to my wife ! ” 

“ That’s right,” heartily said “ Texas Dave.” “ If 
it was an accident that threw this trouble your way, 
I’ll stand by you — to the last! I’ll throw these bullets 
in the river and stand by you ! ” 

Raoul Hawtrey sprang to his side. He clutched the 
Texan’s arm. “ Promise me that you will not show 
these bullets until I bid you ! They know nothing as 
yet?” 

The voice of the desperate man was winning, plead- 
ing, in its vibrant earnestness ! 

“ So help me God, you shall have the first show ! I 
swear it! ” solemnly said the generous-hearted Texan, 
who fondly fancied he saw the end coming — the end of 
all his bootless suspicions. It had been some strange 
melee! 

“ One moment ! ” calmly said Hawtrey. 

“ Texas Dave’s ” eyes followed the graceful form of 
the retreating man. “ He’s an out and outer, after all ! 
I wonder if the big fellow jumped him! Julian him- 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 283 

self never played any fair game as to this brother! 
He hid everything from me, too! ” 

A deafening explosion suddenly rang out, filling the 
rpom with horrid echoes, which reverberated in the 
groined arches of the vast hall ! 

“ Texas Dave ” leaped forward as the panther on 
the trail, and bent over the prostrate man, whose fall 
had overturned a heavy screen. 

Then, the great doors were violently thrown open, 
and Judith Hawtrey clasped her arms around that pros- 
trate form ! 

Behind her, the faces of frightened domestics clus- 
tered as the stranger held up a warning hand. 

“ Speak to me! My God! Speak to me but once! 
Raoul ! Why did you do this? ” shrieked the beautiful 
woman, whose loosened hair, flowing over her shoul- 
ders, swept the dying man’s breast ! 

Dave Ross tenderly supported the gasping man’s 
feeble head. 

“For your sake!” he fondly murmured, with a last 
effort clutching her trembling hand with his stiffening 
fingers. 

And he died with his pallid lips showering kisses 
upon that beloved token of his hard-won battle with 
life! 

“ Remember, you have heard nothing ! ” whispered 
the Texan, as the queenly woman fell in his arms. 

They bore the senseless form of Judith to the nearest 
divan, while, with a stern self-command, the Ameri- 
can bade them hasten for the nearest surgeon. 

“Who am I?” sadly answered “Texas Dave,” as 
the English maids clung to him in their terror. “ Only 
his pardner — his friend and pardner — and, square with 
him to the last ! ” 

The dark pool of congealing blood staining the old 
oaken floor told its awful story ! 

Loosening the dead man’s vest, “ Texas Dave ” said, 
sadly : “ Too late ! Too late! ” 

And he sat there, silently watching, by the stiffen- 
ing corpse when the surgeon and the village priest en- 
tered the library! 

On the writing table, where the letters still lay scat- 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


984 

tered, lay “ Texas Dave’s ” own pistol, with which the 
unhappy man had ended his wrecked life. 

Resolute, grave, and courteous, the American took 
charge of the excited household, and an hour later, he 
stood at the bedside of the widowed beauty with the 
silver-haired priest and the wondering village physi- 
cian. 

“ You are Mr. Ross — ‘ Texas Dave ’ — are you not? ” 
faltered Judith Hawtrey. 

“ I am,” sadly said the American. “ And, I would 
die for you ! ” 

“ Telegraph to my father to come here instantly!” 
said the half-distracted woman. “ I must look to you 
to do all until he arrives. There is the law ! ” 

“ Send all these French people out ! ” said “ Texas 
Dave,” with a glance which made Judith quiver in her 
very heart. “ I must first say something to you — - 
alone! ” 

When the two men had withdrawn, Judith motioned 
to her English maids to seek the farther corner of the 
room. 

“ Can you trust me with your honor, like a brother? 
Can you trust me with the good name of my dead 
pardner? For God's sake, say yes P” cried Dave Ross, 
the tears now falling from his eyes in an unaccus- 
tomed rain. 

“Yes, yes!” murmured Judith. “You are a 
man ” 

“ An honest man,” sadly said Ross, “ and, I’ve got 
a wife no older than you, and a boy to bear my name ! 
Your father knows I’m square in every deal! What 
do you wish ’me to say to him, to the law people here? ” 

“ What should you say? ” faltered Judith, a horrible 
' fear possessing her. 

“ That we were only going over there to see some 
people about the business of a lawyer who has been 
fighting his succession ” 

“ Addiscombe? ” demanded Judith. 

“ Yes! He’s a pettifogger! ” said Ross. “ And that 
Sir Raoul, preparing to drive out. on these lonely roads, 
accidentally shot himself with his own pistol ! It’s 
not true — but, I’ll say it — for your sake — for your fa- 
ther’s sake ! For my dead pardner’ s sake ! ” 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 285 

Judith’s eyes burned into his very soul! And yet 
her sobs choked her utterance. 

“ You must guide me, lady! ” said the simple Texan. 
" I speak no French — the law people will be here soon ! 
I will telegraph to your father that your husband was 
accidentally injured!” 

“ Is it right to do this?” said Judith, grasping his 
nerveless hands. 

‘‘As God is my judge!” said the sorrowing man 
“I’d have died to have saved him ! He was out ol 
his mind ! He owed me nothing, lady, and if he owed 
the world anything, he has paid it ! Blood pays every 
debt ! I’ve given him my word, so help me God, never 
to speak of his troubles, until he bade me! And so, 
my dead pardner’s safe at last ! There’s no one can 
harm him now ! I’ll see these French people to-mor- 
row, and, send them all away ! ” 

“ Do as you will ! ” cried the woman, who saw the 
truth shining out in the Texan’s kindly eyes. 

And so, Ross kept his lonely vigil by the dead man. 
long after the astonished doctor and priest had sought 
the village. 

The flying feet of the messenger’s horse racing past 
Pere Antoine’s farmhouse awakened Walter Addis- 
combe, as the man galloped on to Tournon with 
“ Texas Dave’s ” carefully worded message. 

It was two o’clock when Rawlins and Stover burst in 
upon the excited Englishman. 

“ There’s been an accident, or a suicide, or a sudden 
death up there ! ” shouted Stover. “ The Marquis de 
Verneuil, Sir Raoul Hawtrey, lies dead in the library ! 
I saw the decorator start for Valence to send the 
Directeur des Pompes Funebres over to the chateau! 
And they’ve telegraphed to England for the widow’s 
father to come over here posthaste ! ” 

“ Is this thing true? ” was the lawyer’s excited cry. 

•“ As God’s own truth! ” answered Rawlins. “ One 
of the English maids told me that he had accidentally- 
shot himself to-night ! ” 

“ Get me out of here ! ” gasped Addiscombe. with a 
groan. “ I’ve lost three months’ time and five thousand 
pounds ! If that old brute Larue finds me here, there 
will be a murder ! ” 


286 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


The char a banc was standing at the door, and then, 
dinging the old peasant a five-pound note, Addiscombe 
dashed away to the station with his now useless body- 
guard. 

“ It has been a game for high stakes, and I have 
lost ! ” growled the resentful lawyer. “ He has now 
gone beyond the reach of any writ — far beyond gaol- 
er or sheriff’s bailiwick! And, after this, the Texan 
and Larue can never be touched ! For Larue never 
saw America, and “ Texas Dave ” was at Caliente when 
the dead man lost his life ! Gods ! What a pot of 
money the widow has fallen into ! I must get Laure 
Duvernay off to Ischl ! May the devil drag her down 
to hell ! ” 

A nun, hastily summoned, with her gentle mates, 
from the nearest convent, watched the long, sentinel 
strides of “ Texas Dave ” as he kept his silent vigil in 
the great vaulted room where Raoul Hawtrey, lay — the 
room where, with rash importunity, his guilty soul was 
sent before the Great Judge, unhouseled and unaneled ! 

Pausing by the silent figure, “ Texas Dave,” with a 
reverent hand, removed the cloth from his dead asso- 
ciate’s face. 

He gazed long and earnestly at the noble features, 
now waxen in the mysterious rigor mortis. 

With a solemn pride, he replaced the cloth, and 
touched the dead man’s hand with a ling^ng fond- 
ness. 

“Poor old pardner!” he said, softly, as his mind 
strayed far away to where the sighing pines shrilled 
their requiem by that empty grave upon the summit far 
away in the lonely Painted Mountains ! “ You played 

a lone hand against the whole world ! You took the 
first rake-off! You went up against a hard game in 
this lawyer ! But, you won out at last ! Game ? Yes, 
game as the besf of the whole lot! It was the square 
tiling for you to kill yourself — square by me, and, dead 
square by the noble wife! And I’ll keep my t oath to 
you! You shall speak first!” 

In the early morning, David Ross stepped out of the 
mail phaeton at Pere Antoine’s door. The old peas- 
ant was smoking his pipe among his beehives. 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 287 

And, he only shook his head warningly as “ Texas 
Dave ” sought to enter the front door. 

After five minutes of expressive pantomime, the 
American laid a hundred-franc note in the blinking 
.old man’s withered hand. 

“ Skipped out! ” he said, grimly. “ Well, I’m rather 
proud of my pardner — he stayed in the game to the 
last, and, never flinched! Now, I’ve got nothing to 
say ! ” 

On the way up the lane, “ Texas Dave ” met the 
sly Mere Jeanne standing in the road. 

“ Same medicine!” he said, as he absently handed 
her a fifty-franc note. “ This will shut their mouths,” 
he said, with a mental reservation, “ to the amount of 
a hundred and fifty francs! The game’s all made 
now ! ” 

And then he drove sadly back through the French 
lanes, sighing for a ten-mile dash on his old raw-boned* 
roan lasso horse ! 

“The pardner was the best of the whole gang!” 
he softly said. “ The old man is all right, but, the poor 
little woman is immense ! They shall never wring her 
quivering heart ! ” 

Four clays later, Ambroise Larue, escorting Madame 
De Vrees, and attended by Henri Bremond and Solic- 
itor Lymington, were met at the grand entrance of the 
Chateau de Verneuil by the taciturn David Ross. 

Without a word, the self-composed Texan led the 
father to the room where his daughter awaited him. 

And then he returned, taking Bremond’s arm, and 
led the young engineer out to the grand terrace. 

“ There’s not much to be done now,” said the Amer- 
ican. “ I must leave here to-night, and I think that 
you will find things in pretty good shape.” 

“ What do the authorities say? ” anxiously demanded 
Bremond. 

“ Nothing! ” sententiously answered the Texan. “ I 
testified that the death was probably the result of an 
accident! I fancy that Lady Hawtrey needs no more 
help. The poor 'fellow is down there, lying in what 
they call a ‘ chapelle cirdente ’! I’ve stayed here and 
tried to do the best I could for my pardner’s widow. 


28.8 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


Now, I must leave here to-night, to take my steamer 
at Havre. I suppose I will meet you at Caliente?” 

“ Yes! ” sadly said Bfemond. “ I am going out to 
take charge of the new works, and to make a report 
upon the working of the Bear Valley plant ! ” 

“ Well, I will see you over there! ” sententiously re- 
marked Ross, as he walked away and gazed sadly dowp 
at the chapel. 

It was when the evening shades were falling that 
“ Texas Dave,” standing in the great salon, saw the 
doors open, and a shrouded figure approached him, with 
Ambroise Larue supporting the graceful specter. 

“ They tell me that you are going away to-night ! ” 
said Judith, her voice sounding strangely under the 
somber crape. 

“ I only wait now,” said Ross, “ to see if I can be 
of any further use to you ! ” 

“ There is nothing — nothing left undone— that a man 
of heart and brain could have done! ” murmured Ju- 
dith. “ We shall meet again? ” 

“ Not unless you come to my own country, Madame,” 
firmly said the frontiersman. ' “ I owe Europe no fa- 
vors ! I only wish to hear of your health and happi- 
ness ! As for all the rest,' I’ll take care of it myself, 
with God’s help ! ” 

Larue searched the young man’s unflinching eyes. 
Madame De Vrees led the widowed beauty away, and 
then, the old scientist turned upon the Texan. 

“ I wish to have a full account of all the happenings 
here from you, before you leave ! ” he said, with a 
lowering brow. 

“ Stop, sir ! ” quickly answered the Texan. “ I have 
placed an unearned fortune in your’hands ! I am under 
no obligations to you, and, I do not care to go fur- 
ther into this sad matter ! ” 

“And, if I insist upon knowing all?” was Larue’s 
reply. 

“ Then, sir,” steadily answered David Ross, “ ask 
your daughter; for between her and myself in this 
matter, you can not come ! ” 

Larue faced the young man angrily. 

“ One word more,” said “ Texas Dave,” “ and, I will 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 289 

go to London, and turn my whole interest in the mine 
over to the Rothschilds ! ” 

“ There is business of moment ! ” the wrathful mil- 
lionaire cried. 

“ Then your agent, Mr. Bremond, knows where to 
find Don Andres Armijo and myself ! I am square 
with all my pardners! I will put the ocean between 
us, as quick as I can ! ” There was that in his face 
which awed Larue to silence. 

Alone and heavy hearted, “ Texas Dave ” was about 
to step into his waiting char a banc, having resolutely 
disdained the hospitalities of the Chateau de Verneuil, 
when Lady Hawtrey’s maid led him into a little ante- 
room. 

He was astounded at the magnificence of the pallid 
beauty of the woman, who stood there with her bosom 
heaving in some unwonted emotion. “ I could not let 
you go, my brother/’ she faltered, “ without telling you 
that my husband’s death has made me your partner! 
Not only, has he left me a magnificent settlement se- 
cured by the family property, but both the interests of 
Julian and Raoul,” she sobbed, “ come to me ! The 
lands of Combermere will go to the Crown, for there 
is no heir ! The name of Hawtrey is now only a 
memory ! ” 

“ Can I do anything for you? ” the Texan said, rais- 
ing her hand to his lips. 

“Yes, yes!” Judith whispered. And then, she 
glanced around, as if the very walls had ears. “ Do 
you remember his last words ? ” 

“ I do ! ” said Ross, his bronzed face paling. 

“ Forget them — forget them ! ” Lady Hawtrey cried. 
“ For his sake! ” the weeping woman pleaded. 

The American gazed long and earnestly in her eyes. 
" You would shield his memory?” he said. 

“ Yes ! Forever! ” cried Judith Hawtrey, in a strange 
exultation. “ It seems as if he. had earned the quiet of 
the grave — this man whose eyes you closed ! ” 

“ My pardner! ” softly said “ Texas Dave.” “ I’ll be 
as true to his memory as you are! And, if you ever 
dream of anything clouding your past, forget it! I 
was an unwilling judge ! And, the dead past lies buried 
with him ! ” 


29 ° 


BROUGHT TO BAY. 


Lady Judith leaned her head upon the borderer’s 
breast for a moment! He felt her womanly heart 
beat against his own ! Something light as the fall of 
the rose-leaf touched his brow — for, she had kissed him 
an eternal farewell! And when he gazed around, he 
stood alone in the darkened room! He had not heard 
her parting whisper — “ God bless you, my brother! ” — 
but, he walked firmly out under the shadowed portal, 
and took his seat in the wagon. 

As he turned his head, he saw Ambroise Larue stand- 
ing there, with his arms opened in a last, vain en- 
treaty ! 

“ Too late — too late ! ” the Texan cried, and he turned 
his eyes away to the smiling valley lying below him, 
peaceful in its summer calm! 

As the char a banc dashed over a tributary of the 
Rhone, something glittered in the sun for a moment, 
and then, sank beneath the current of the dashing 
stream. 

“ There go the silent witnesses ! ” resolutely said 
“ Texas Dave.” 

He turned back to catch a last glimpse of the 
Chateau de Verneuil, upon whose turrets the sun was 
gayly gleaming. 

“God bless her!” said “Texas Dave.” “She’s a 
true-hearted woman, and she stands there shielding 
the memory of the man who died for her sake ! Rather 
than see shame rest upon her, he faced the awful truth 
alone! After all, a man — a game man — and one who 
only struck his luck in life too late — my pardner ! But 
the devil in his heart never made him forget that 
angel by his side ! He was true to her at the last, and 
he paid the price ! ” 

Far over the wild Atlantic waves, in later days, “Tex- 
as Dave,” riding the lonely path of the Sierras, often 
paused where the pine needles, lightly shaken, had cov- 
ered the tenantless grave with their shining pall. “ For- 
gotten — all forgotten ! ” he sighed, gazing down over 
the yellow mesa. “ She is true and loyal yet ! She 
knows nothing! She never will know how game my 
pardner was, when he was brought to bay ! ” 


[the end.] 


'Jo. 56 I Ht wLLCuMt 

published Monthly APRIL, 1900 


$ 5.00 per Annum 


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Brought to Bay 

^ NOVEL 


BY 

COL. RICHARD HENRY SAVAGE 

Author of 

“ My Official Wife,” “An Exile From London” 

If. 


NEW YORK 

THE HOHE PUBLISHING COMPANY 

3 EAST FOURTEENTH STREET 
























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